嚤囉雞飯 Arroz Pilau ou Mouro

It's Sunday night - my cooking time. Kind of missing my busy weekends but also glad that I can relax and catch up some of my cooking. So, tonight, it's the Indian-Chinese fusion time. I am not quite sure if this dish is from Hong Kong or it is a true Macanese dish. But you can pretty much find it on the menu of any cafe in Macau. Hong Kong people, leave me a message and let me know if you can find it in Hong Kong as well. Thanks! :) I am not sure how does this dish look in India but in Macau, it is usually made with chicken thigh and served over turmeric rice (黃薑飯). I tried to dig deep on the originate from the web. But no luck. Probably because the name I have "Arroz Pilau ou Mouro" is Portuguese. Of course, the "嚤囉" is come from the word "mouro" but don't ask me what mouro means because I have no idea! I did some twist on this dish to try to make it easier and healthier. I baked the chicken instead of deep frying it. Also, I added some fresh cucumber and tomato. I am an vegetable eater! The recipe below is the "cafe style" Arroz Pilau ou Mouro. It will probably looks different if you order it in a restaurant. Enjoy~

For the chicken

Ingredient:

• 4 chicken thighs. I like to use the one with skin and bone. More tasty!
• 2 table spoons Masala spice. I used the Shan Brand masala mix.
• 1 tea spoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tea spoon paprika
• 1 tea spoon oregano
• light soy sauce, salt and oil

Directions:

1. Marinate the chicken thighs with all the ingredients listed above. Let the spice cover all side of the chicken thighs. Use your hand if you could. Let it marinate for at least 2 hours. Feel free to leave it overnight in a fridge. 
2. On a baking sheet, cover it with parchment paper (I used my lovely non-stick slip mat) to prevent sticking.
3. Place the marinate chicken thighs on the baking sheet and baked at a 325 F pre-heat oven for 45 to 60 minutes. I like baking it as it would extract all the fat and oil from the thighs but still give you the crispy skin. Feel free to do it the traditional way by deep frying it. 

For the turmeric rice (黃薑飯)

Ingredients:

• 1-3/4 cup jasmine rice
• 2 table spoons turmeric
• 1 tea spoons thyme
• half onion
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• couple dried bay leaves
• Some raisin 
• Oil

Directions:

1. Soak the rice with water for 1-2 hours depending how dry the rice is.
2. Finely dice the onion and garlic.
3. In a large pan, heat some oil. Fry the dice onion and garlic until you can smell them. 
4. Drain the rice and add to the pan. Keep stirring. 
5. Add the turmeric and thyme. Stir until you can smell the spice.
6. Then, transfer everything to a rice cooker. Add 1-3/4 cup water and click start. If you do not have a rice cooker, you can cook the rice in a medium pot on stove top. Cover and turn the heat on high until boil. Then, immediately turn the heat down to medium low until rice is fully cooked. Do not stir or open the cover while cooking. 

To serve, in a place put the turmeric rice, chicken thigh and some sliced cucumber and tomato, top with some raisin. This recipe made 4 serving. It is great with a ice cold Macau/Hong Kong style milk tea. Enjoy~

Happy blogging - Vee