Chicken Long Rice
Many have said that chicken long rice is an acquired taste but I have to think they're confusing taste with texture. That first slurp can be disconcerting as it slips playfully down. Then the subtle warmth of chicken, ginger and onion lingers comfortingly. The mild flavors are familiar to most of us, combined in a way that quickly earns our love.
Although it has become a staple of luaus today, chicken long rice is actually a Cantonese contribution, arriving sometime after the first wave of Chinese immigrants to Hawaii in the late 18th century. Since that time it has become a local favorite, making regular appearances at not only luaus, but countless restaurants and plate lunch wagons. A nice benefit of this dish is that it makes a perfect potluck contribution: it's affordable in large quantities, tastes good even when not piping hot and is well-loved.
Traditionally, chicken long rice uses just chicken, onions, noodles and salt. When I'm seeking more variety, I look to Sam Choy's version in Sam Choy: Cooking From the Heart which adds carrot, celery, shiitake mushrooms and onion. This latter preparation makes for a heartier dish, more suitable for use as a main course.
Chicken Long Rice
Serves 12
- 3 lbs. chicken thighs, skin and fat removed
- 1 inch thumb of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 4 oz. bean-thread noodles, aka cellophane noodles, aka "long rice"
- 12 dried shiitake mushrooms (optional, non-traditional)
- 1 medium carrot, julienned (optional, non-traditional)
- 2 small stalks celery, sliced very thin (optional, non-traditional)
- 1 small yellow onion, minced (optional, non-traditional)
- 6 green onions, cut into 1 inch lengths
- sea salt, to taste
Prep work
Submerge the chicken and ginger in approximately four cups water and simmer for one hour. Some people prefer to smash the ginger but basically leave it intact. Overlooking their violent tendencies for the moment, I prefer delicate mincing to smashing because more ginger infuses into the broth.
While the chicken simmers, soak shiitake mushrooms and long rice noodles in separate bowls of warm water for at least 20 minutes. After soaking, discard mushroom stems, thinly slice caps and set aside. Cut noodles into three inch lengths with a pair of scissors and set aside. Prep carrots, celery and green onions... set aside.
Remove the chicken, reserving broth, and let cool slightly. Remove chicken bones and discard. Cut the chicken meat into rough cubes and set aside. By now, you should have a small forest of bowls, each brimming with prepped ingredients that have been "set aside." Enough prep, let's assemble.
Assembly
Taste the broth and lightly salt to taste. Bring the broth back to a simmer, add the mushrooms, carrots, celery and onion if you're including them then simmer for five minutes. Add chicken, long rice and green onions. Simmer for 3-4 minutes until the long rice turns translucent. Don't overcook, or you'll end up with gelatinous sludge! Most of the broth will have been absorbed, but you want a little to remain. Chicken long rice is typically served from a bowl or tray that can contain any liquid, but is suitable for scooping generously onto flat plates.
Hi Alan - I've missed your posts. Nice recipe, chicken long rice sounds so easy, but it can be pretty difficult because of all the delicate flavors involved. I've made Chicken Long Rice that the Missus wouldn't eat, because she felt that the celery flavor was too strong, or because she felt that the flavor of dried shiitakes added too much mushroom flavor - I guess she has a specfic balance in mind.
Kirk, I agree with the Missus that balance is vital. In the reipe above, I've actually scaled back the proportions of shiitake and carrot because I found them to be too strong in Sam Choy's version. Who am I to tell Sam Choy how to cook, eh? I just like this version better.
This reminds me of the dish we Cantonese eat on New Years called jai aka Buddists Delight since it is all vegetarian. Also it reminds me of Filipino pancit. Whatever you call it, it is delish!
long rice in guam is pretty much the same, only much soupier--it's that soupy aspect i could never get down with, for some reason. either make it a soup, or a straight-up noodle dish, not something in between! this version looks like the filipino sotanghon gisado or pancit sotanghon (like gia said)--pretty much the only difference is that there's a lot of garlic added to the pinoy version.
Hi Alan!
This looks like a great recipe for my husband and I to make.
I read Santos' comment and had to chuckle. I'm from Guam, now living in Oahu. I wasn't used to Long Rice the way it's prepared here, so whenever my husband (who grew up here) tries to make it we have a little struggle. He's trying to make it Hawaiian style and I'm always trying to get him to add more liquid to make it more of a soup. We end up with something in between that (as Santos points out) really doesn't work! This version looks like one I can accept as a straight noodle dish.
Whaaaa? You do food blogging? VERY COOL! I see *now* where the priorities are!!
This is just.too.weird. I am finally getting my feet wet again into the blog scene and actually came by to find your sweet potato haupia pie recipe...I want to make that while I am here!
But now you mention Chicken Long Rice and the recipe from Sam Choy's book...hallelujah! I was just going through my copy here and am started on a list of ingredients for several of his recipes that I want to eat again. Great cookbook...I love uncle Sam!
I made this tonight, it was just like home. What I did what use a peeler and peeled piece's of the celery and carrots, and I cut them into smaller piece's and same thing with the ginger. I didn't use as many mushrooms maybe like 10 and then thinly sliced them. and with the carrot I used half a carrot. I also added 3 chicken builon cubes too. But came out ono. thats the only thing I would do to make it better, do it really thin the veggie. ok thanks
Jessica, that's a good point. Slicing the veggies super thin is preferred. They're there for flavor--we're not making a salad after all!
are you suppose to only put in one 4oz long rice package?
Tiana,
I only put in one 4oz. package because I like a good ratio of "stuff" compared to my noodles. Feel free to experiment though. Adding more noodles is a very effective way to stretch this dish to fee more people, without diluting the flavor significantly. At major functions, I notice that that chicken long rice is almost entirely noodles, but the flavor still carries well.
alan