When I need dinner in a hurry, I buy a roasted chicken from the supermarket rotisserie.
You could, of course, just eat the chicken as is. But I do a bit more as it’s the easiest thing. Pull out the flesh from the bird, add some seasonings and you have not just one, but three dishes for the table.
With just me and hubby eating these days, that chicken can stretch… to get dinner for three days!
Of course, we eat less these days. And since we now eat low carb, a full-course salad would do on some nights. I could even stretch out the chicken with more vegetable, starch or if the servings are too small, just add another dish to the meal.
From one half of this chicken, I make a spiced shredded chicken called Ayam Plecing, a Vietnamese chicken salad with the other half and an Indonesian chicken soup, Soto Ayam, with the carcass and the remainder of the flesh.
Advertisement
The dish, Ayam Plecing, was first eaten in Lombok. I thought it was such a good idea to add a chilli dressing to leftover chicken for another meal. The cooks there made a rempah (spice mixture) of tomato, chilli, belacan and onion, but I just relied on my bottle of nyonya sambal chilli to dress the chicken.
This spiced chicken is delicious on its own, served on a lettuce leaf. It can also be used as a filling for a sandwich or teamed with plain rice.
The chicken salad was one I first tasted in Vietnam. I can’t remember the city, but I was struck by how this Asian coleslaw relied on a dressing of just fish sauce and lime juice, rather than creamy mayo, which I find too rich.
The Vietnamese add a scattering of chopped peanuts for crunch. I like some fresh coriander and mint leaves as well to lift the salad further.
And of course, we’ve eaten Soto Ayam all our lives. You can eat it as a soup, or with hard-boiled eggs, ketupat or rice cakes or noodles if you want something more substantial. I like to add a boiled potato or two as well and some bean sprouts into the bowl. (Leave it uncooked. The hot broth would soften it sufficiently by the time you eat it!)
Aside from the chicken and eggs, essential garnishes could be fried onions, Chinese celery and pounded chillies.
I left this dish for the last, for you need a stripped carcass for the stock. Just place a carrot, onion, a stick of celery and lemon grass into the pot, add the carcass, water to cover and boil gently, with the spices. No need to brown first, if you can’t be bothered, the spices will permeate the stock during the cooking.
This is a typical Asian mother habit that makes good use of bits and pieces. My mother needed only a chicken carcass to make macaroni soup, for example. The bones become the stock while the flesh peeled from the carcass renders enough meat for the bowl.
Ayam Plecing
A spicy chicken recipe from Lombok
Ingredients
- Meat from half a roast chicken
- 6-8 red chillies (use large chillies, seeds removed, for less heat)
- 1 medium-sized onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- ½ tbsp. belacan (shrimp paste)
- 1 tbsp. oil
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- Salt to taste
- 2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded finely
Method
- Strip half the roast chicken of its meat, tearing up the bigger pieces into smaller strips. Leave aside.
- To make the spice paste, place chillies, onions, garlic and belacan in a food chopper and process till fine.
- Heat oil in a wok and brown spice paste over a slow fire until fragrant and caramelised.
- Add chopped tomatoes and cook till they meld into the sauce. Add a bit of water if needed. What you are aiming for is a sauce with lovely red chilli oil in it.
- Season with salt to taste. Toss the shredded chicken meat in this dressing. Add the shredded kaffir lime leaves for extra fragrance.
Tip: you could skip the spice paste and use store-bought chilli paste instead. Glory makes a good nyonya sambal chilli.
Vietnamese coleslaw
Coleslaw with a difference, without mayo
Ingredients
- Shredded meat from half a roast chicken
- 5 cups of white cabbage, shredded (or less, if you prefer)
- 1 carrot, shredded, optional
- 1 onion, peeled and sliced finely
- 1 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
- Fresh mint and coriander, leaves only
- 4 green chillies, sliced or chopped
Dressing
- 2 tbsps fish sauce
- ¼ cup water
- Juice from half a lemon
- 1 tsp palm or brown sugar, to taste
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- 1 fresh coriander root, chopped
Method
- Shred the cabbage and the carrot (optional, for colour). Then peel and slice the onion, which can be white, red or even the small shallots.
- Place shredded vegetables in a glass bowl to show off the colours. Top it with shredded chicken meat and the chopped nuts.
- Garnish with fresh mint and coriander leaves and add sliced green chillies, to your taste.
- Make up the dressing: taste to adjust seasonings. Pour over the salad and toss just before serving.
Soto Ayam
It’s spiced and sedap. Makes for a quick, yet comforting meal for two.
Ingredients
- 1 chicken carcass
- Remaining meat from the chicken carcass
- 1 onion, peeled and cut into chunks
- ½ carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
- 1 celery stick, cut into short lengths
- 1 stalk lemongrass, use only the white part at the bottom
- 2 hard-boiled eggs
- 1 peeled potato, cut into half
- 1 handful of fresh bean sprouts
- 1 packet of instant noodles (without seasoning packet)
Spices
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
- 1 small onion, chopped fine
- 1 tsp chopped ginger
- salt and pepper to taste
Garnishes
- Fried onions
- 1 sprig Chinese celery, cut into short lengths
- Chillies, red or green, sliced or chopped, optional
Method
- Strip the carcass, shred the meat, if needed
- Place bones, together with onion, carrot and celery, into a pot. Add lemongrass and water to cover.
- Bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for half an hour.
- Strain stock and add the spice paste. (If you like, you may brown the paste first.) Add potato and cook till tender. Season to taste. Add a swirl of light soya sauce, if liked.
- Boil noodles according to packet instructions. Drain.
- Make up bowl for individual serving. Place noodles into the bowl, top with shredded chicken and bean sprouts, if using. Add hot soup.
- Garnish with fried onions and Chinese celery. Top with potato, egg and chilli. Serve.
There you have it, three dishes from just one roasted chicken!
