Khao Manh Gai

[sbk]

I love Khao Manh Gai but my husband tells me that Khao Manh is cooked in coconut milk. True or not?

[calibanjr.]

Doesn't taste like it. I eat it every day for bfast, since the shop on Nantaram road is 50 yards from my office. Wife says it makes me fat, but that could be the extra two kai dao I add on after. For me, the sauce is the thing, if I put the sauce on my shoe, I think it would make a decent breakfast, better than some I've paid for before! Looks here like it's cooked in chicken broth:

http://www.simply-thai.com/thai-food-recip...hao-man-gai.htm

I s'pose there are always local variations, though.

Edited July 22, 2007 by calibanjr.

[stats]

eating Khao Manh Gai makes me grow 5 kg's in 2 weeks

[terryp]

The rice is blended with the chicken fat…Fastest way to put on weight

[cmsally]

It's cooked in chicken fat/broth. We have made it a couple of times from scratch.

But husbands the cook so I haven't got a clue what the recipe is. Just do what I am told!

[frenchFARANGbkk]

The rice is blended with the chicken fat…Fastest way to put on weight

I'm not sure it will make you fatter than any other ulta-oily thai dish ?!

Edited July 22, 2007 by frenchFARANGbkk

[sbk]

Good Khao Manh Gai is not fatty. And the lady I get mine from makes sure to take the skin off for me. But, I guess chicken fat is just as bad.

Why is it everything really tasty is bad for you?

[sabaijai]

It's not the fat but the carbs (rice) that encourage weight gain.

[frenchFARANGbkk]

It's not the fat but the carbs (rice) that encourage weight gain.

Only if you eat too much, because carbs are also needed when people are on a diet.

[momathome]

I've checked 3 different Thai cookbooks and asked some Thai friends about their khao manh gai recipies, I coulnd't find any one who put coconut milk in the food. All of them said they cook the rice with chicken broth and some amout of fat.

[sbk]

I am not worried so much about the carbs as the effect on my arteries of all that fat

Just checked with our cook, and she agrees, chicken fat. No idea where my husband got the idea it was coconut milk

[ngieen]

no coconut milk.

the rice used is a mixture of white rice and sticky rice. the sticky rice is soaked in water overnight and is used in 1:3 ratio to the white rice, it gives the dish a great texture. The best white rice to use is old rice. it has somewhat heavier flavor to it and it absorbs more flavors. The rice is seasoned BEFORE it is cooked with some salt and sugar. The rice is than lightly fried in chicken fat with some garlic before being cooked in chicken stock with couple of fresh ginger slices and coriander roots.

Edited July 24, 2007 by ngieen

[too true]

Doesn't taste like it. I eat it every day for bfast, since the shop on Nantaram road is 50 yards from my office. Wife says it makes me fat, but that could be the extra two kai dao I add on after. For me, the sauce is the thing, if I put the sauce on my shoe, I think it would make a decent breakfast, better than some I've paid for before! Looks here like it's cooked in chicken broth:

http://www.simply-thai.com/thai-food-recip...hao-man-gai.htm

I s'pose there are always local variations, though.

The khao man gai Nantaram people are very good friends of ours (me, hubby and kids) - I was back in the kitchen one evening we were there for a dinner thing and there were these huge chunks of white stuff in pots. I asked what they were and was told that it was all fat for cooking the rice.

Nothing in chicken's going to make you fat - it's all in the rice. But isn't it like heaven on earth to have khao man gai rice that is so chickeny and creamy? Almost melts in your mouth...

[calibanjr.]

Doesn't taste like it. I eat it every day for bfast, since the shop on Nantaram road is 50 yards from my office. Wife says it makes me fat, but that could be the extra two kai dao I add on after. For me, the sauce is the thing, if I put the sauce on my shoe, I think it would make a decent breakfast, better than some I've paid for before! Looks here like it's cooked in chicken broth:

http://www.simply-thai.com/thai-food-recip...hao-man-gai.htm

I s'pose there are always local variations, though.

The khao man gai Nantaram people are very good friends of ours (me, hubby and kids) - I was back in the kitchen one evening we were there for a dinner thing and there were these huge chunks of white stuff in pots. I asked what they were and was told that it was all fat for cooking the rice.

Nothing in chicken's going to make you fat - it's all in the rice. But isn't it like heaven on earth to have khao man gai rice that is so chickeny and creamy? Almost melts in your mouth...

Funny thing is, when I need deliveries to my office from vendors anywhere from Chiang Mai to Lamphun, I never need to draw them a map. I just say "hasip mate lang jak Khao Man Gai Nantaram" (5O meters after the Khao Man Gai shop {my version of the Thai anyway]) EVERYBODY knows exactly where I'm at! Easy peasy.

[lomatopo]

Based on the linked recipe this sounds like Hainanese Chicken Rice popularized in Singapore and Malaysia. I've eaten this dish hundreds of times in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand and have never seen it prepared with coconut milk. However, at the Wiki entry it does say...

The chicken is prepared in traditional Hainanese methods which involve the boiling of the entire chicken in a pork and chicken bone stock, reusing the broth over and over and only topping it up with water when needed, in accordance with the Chinese preferences for creating "master stocks". This stock is not used for rice preparation, which instead involves chicken stock created specifically for that purpose, producing an oily, flavourful rice sometimes known as "oily rice". Some cooks may add coconut milk to the rice, reminiscent of the Malay dish Nasi lemak.

There is an excellent chicken rice shop on Ratchawithi Road, ~ 100 meters east of Victory Monument on the left; always packed.

[frenchFARANGbkk]

The BEST chicken restaurant I have ever met in my life in on Thonglor in front of J-Avenue, I don't know if it is the hainanese recipe but the rice can't be found anywhere else in Bangkok, you are lucky if you don't know, because it looks fat and is a lot better than any Thai kao mann kai.

The owner is chinese and the restaurant is famous and had many newspapers articles.

[naomisri]

If you really want it healthy, just ask for Khao suay/khao khao/khao bplao. Not half as tasty though The rice they use for Moo Glob/deng is plain white rice, not the chicken fat kind

[theseveredhead]

definately not any coconut. it is cooked in broth. my hunnch is any broth available (pork/chicken)... it does not have skin so is not fatty. the soup though seems greasy and very salty.

does anyone know about the sauce?? is it tamarind or fermented mung bean or what?

[blue eyes]

NO coconut of any kind.You cook the rice with chicken broth instead of water with a little salt.The broth you get from the water that you simered the chicken in,then you debone the chicken and place it upon your cooked rice.With a side of the chicken broth.It is that simple.Oh you make a "dip"with garlic,ginger,red chille,soy sauce,soybean paste,sugar,vinagar and chicken broth.

[Zeid]

KAW MAN GAI AROY MAK MAK

the best one i likes was the one in bic c phuket

[meadish_sweetball]

definately not any coconut. it is cooked in broth. my hunnch is any broth available (pork/chicken)... it does not have skin so is not fatty. the soup though seems greasy and very salty.

does anyone know about the sauce?? is it tamarind or fermented mung bean or what?

It varies a bit from place to place, but in Thailand it is usually based on fermented soi bean sauce (tao jiao), ginger, chilli and black soi.

[UnknownPoster]

The shop on Thong Lor, between Soi 14 & 16 serves the Singapore Hainanese Chicken Rice.

[lomatopo]

An article in today's Bangkok Post...

http://www.bangkokpost.com/Realtime/31Aug2007_real37.php

STREET TREATS

Fowl play

VANNIYA SRIANGURA

Thai people are so finicky when it comes to dining. We always ask about where to find the best this and that. But, you know, it really depends on each individual's palate and one person's jewel may not always be a gem for others.

For example, when it comes to chicken rice, or khao mun gai, literally meaning rice cooked with chicken fat, regardless of the fact that this is one of the most unhealthy dishes around, many people like the rice hard and a bit oily while others may like it soft and light. The older generation prefers firm and dry chicken meat while the younger ones want their poultry juicy and tender. And then there is the matter of the soup and the sauce. The boiling hot soup that always accompanies the chicken rice is usually made with chicken broth and squash with a hint of coriander and white pepper. While many like the soup mild, some prefer it with piquant zest. The sauce, consisting of soy bean paste, mature ginger, garlic and dark soy sauce, may be sweet, sour or spicy depending on the recipe.

Singapore is the home of chicken rice following the recipe of Hainan Chinese who migrated to the island. Singaporean chicken often comes in generous, hefty pieces with a pinkish centre and super juicy texture. Here in Thailand, unless at a decent restaurant, it's very common to find flat and dry chicken meat - either by carefully and ungenerously butchering or by pounding the bird meat with the flat side of a cleaver to make it appear "wider" but paper thin (well, of course) atop the rice.

Ah Ho's Chicken Rice

- Besides being a must-visit place for every chicken rice aficionado, Ah Ho's is also one of the country's best-kept secret khao mun gai eateries due to its remote location and intentionally low profile. Two years ago when I announced my plan to write about the shop, the owner pleaded, "Please don't write much. We are already overworked."

Ah Ho is Hainanese-Singaporean who moved from the Lion City to Samut Sakhon 23 years ago after marrying a Thai. They now own a 2,000-slot chicken farm with the rustic-looking chicken rice restaurant set in front of the plantation among the clucking sound of the birds. The clientele ranges from walk-in locals in flip-flops to well-dressed urbanites who arrive in ritzy European cars.

What makes Ah Ho's chicken rice respectably distinctive is, of course, the juicy yet lean chicken as well as the not-too-oily but tasty rice, the spicy sauce and the aromatic seaweed soup. The price for a complete set of chicken rice for one person is 30-40 baht. An a la carte order of the meat costs 60-100 baht.

Ah Ho's shop is open Tuesday-Saturday, 6am-1pm. Bear in mind that the restaurant is closed whenever it runs out of chicken.

The place is located in Soi Leab Khlong Bang Nam Jeud, off Rama II Road in Samut Sakhon province. To get there, take the outbound Rama II Road to Samut Sakhon. After the Tesco Lotus superstore, keep left before getting off the highway to the parallel road at the exit in front of Boon Thavorn tile store. Then prepare to make a U-turn. Approximately 1.5 kilometres after the U-turn, turn left into the soi. The chicken rice shop is 650 metres down the road. Tel 034-812-444.

[sabaijai]

The original Hainan/Singapore style comes with a very different (from the Thai) kind of dipping sauce, very red. The only place in Thailand I've found that serves it with the original sauce (altho Ah Ho's probably does, I haven't made it out to Samut Sakon lately ) is an ancient shophouse on Yaowarat Rd in Phuket town.

[Lookingood]

I think the Greyhound Cafe (Emporium, Central Chidlom, Gaysorn, etc etc) serves a commendable Khao manh gai portion. Quite close to the hainanese chicken rice we get here in Singapore, though I would say if you visit this city state, the Meritus Mandarin Hotel's hainanese chicken rice is hard to beat! (the price is also high)

[pumpuiman]

After reading this thread, I got to talking with my wife about her favorite khao manh gai spots.....and we were soon both craving some.

I searched recipes from here and the internet, and am proud to say I am now an accomplished khao manh gai chef.

After several hours of acquisition of ingredients and careful preparation, my rice, chicken and the all important sauce were met with glowing approval by my connoisseur wife.

Thanks to all for fanning the flames of our appetites!

Fat and happy in the U.S.of A.

Eric

If anyone needs pointers, don't hesitate to ask, I'll be glad to pass on my recipe gleaned from several sources.....and my wife's palate.

[tigerbeer]

nothing like malaysian/singaporean hainanese chicken rice . and the secret is the vinegar fresh chili sauce that they serve it with. there was one restaurant here in chiang mai called singapore street which unfortunately closed down that had it. was good ! if not mistaken there is one more near kad suan keaw.

BUT i get my dose of Kow Mun Ghai from somewhere near payap university. Its the best i have ever had in chiang mai. truly sinful eating it with the nak prik, lots of prik kee nuu inside of it and cut ginger . feel guilty eating it everyday so now its a 2 times a week affair.

long live kow mun ghai

[cimot]

'm not sure it will make you fatter than any other ulta-oily thai dish ?!

[sbk]

Who knew? I never guessed that a Khao Man Gai thread would go to two pages!

Guess we'll all be fat and happy together

[Nordlys]

The original Hainan/Singapore style comes with a very different (from the Thai) kind of dipping sauce, very red. The only place in Thailand I've found that serves it with the original sauce (altho Ah Ho's probably does, I haven't made it out to Samut Sakon lately ) is an ancient shophouse on Yaowarat Rd in Phuket town.

Montien Hotels also serve excellent Hainan/Singaporean style Khao Man Gai, with three different kind of dipping sauce (one of them red chile sauce). But at 250 Baht a dish if I remember correctly.