Coconut-water chicken pot

Ingredientsserves 6

Equipment

• To open the coconuts, a heavy cleaver, or a coconut knife or opener; a damp cloth under the board stops it sliding
• A pot with a lid, kept on while the chicken poaches
• A fine sieve, to catch the bits of shell in the coconut water

How the time splits

1. 20 minOpen the coconuts, chop the chickenhands on
2. 15 minSimmer the coconut water with the aromaticshands off
3. 10 minAt the table, poach the chickenhands on

Method

1. Open the coconuts. Lay each one on its side on a board with a damp cloth under it and strike around the pointed top with the heel of the cleaver until you can lift off a round lid, keeping your other hand well away from the blade. Pour out the water through a fine sieve to catch any shell, then scrape out the soft flesh with a spoon and cut it into strips.
2. If you are using cartons, choose one whose only ingredient is coconut water, with no added sugar. Sweetened coconut drinks will not do; they cook down sweet and cloying.
3. Chop the chicken into small pieces, cut away the fat, rinse and pat dry. Small pieces cook quickly and right through in the pot.
4. Add about one and a half bowls of water to the coconut water, put in the water chestnuts, red dates, ginger and coconut flesh, bring it to the boil and simmer over a medium flame for ten to fifteen minutes. No salt yet.
5. For the dip, put the sand ginger, garlic and chilli in a bowl, add the soy, squeeze in the lemon or lime and stir; give everyone a small saucer.
6. At the table, bring the broth to a full boil and put in the chicken. When it boils again, turn the flame down, cover the pot and let it poach for eight to ten minutes. Cut the largest piece open near the bone and eat only when there is no pink and the juices run clear. Do not boil it hard for twenty or thirty minutes, or the chicken turns tough and dry.
7. Eat the chicken first, with the sand-ginger soy. Then add the goji, taste and add a little salt, and the pot becomes an ordinary hotpot broth for everything else. Top it up with boiling water, and after every top-up wait for a full boil before raw food goes in.

The short route

• Use pure carton coconut water instead of opening coconuts; choose one with no added sugar and nothing but coconut water in it, and the broth is ready in ten minutes.
• Without fresh sand ginger, use ground sand ginger from a supermarket or Chinese grocer, or simply garlic soy with lime juice.

What goes in this pot

• Chicken: eaten first, poached until there is no pink at the bone
• Bamboo fungus: soaked and cut, it soaks up the coconut broth
• Corn: in pieces, in early
• Fresh Chinese yam: peeled and sliced, cooked until soft
• Lettuce: last, eaten as soon as it wilts
• Rice vermicelli: to finish, soaking up the sweet broth

What to put in, and for how long ›

The sauce plate

Chilli soySha cha and soy

Safe at the table

• Indoors, an induction plate or an electric hotpot is the safe choice. Australia’s gas safety regulators say butane cartridge stoves are for outdoor use only, because of the risk of carbon monoxide. If you do use one indoors, as Hong Kong homes do, keep it well ventilated, and never in a small or closed-up room.
• With a portable gas stove, never use a pot wider than the pot stand, about 20 cm at most unless the maker’s instructions allow more, and never one that reaches over the canister compartment. Never put two stoves side by side, and never leave one burning.
• Fit and remove the canister away from any flame or heat, with its notch facing up. Check for leaks with soapy water first, and do not use a stove that leaks or is damaged. Never put the stove on another cooker (an induction plate especially) or on anything hot, and put nothing between stove and pot that the maker did not supply: no foil, no extra stand.
• Buy a stove certified for Australia, set it on a level surface that will not burn, never on glass, and do not run it longer than the maker’s instructions allow. Keep sprays, lighters and paper well away. When you finish, turn it off, take the canister out and store it somewhere cool, dry and ventilated, never in a car or in the sun.
• Keep raw and cooked apart: use a separate pair of chopsticks or a slotted spoon for raw meat and seafood, and never eat from them.
• After topping the pot up, wait for it to come back to a full boil before anything goes in.
• Chicken, pork, liver and seafood must be cooked through before eating. Sliced pig’s liver needs at least three to five minutes at a full boil; Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety advises at least five minutes for seafood; clams boil until they open and then three to five minutes more, and any that stay shut are thrown away. Enoki boils at least two minutes and is never eaten raw.
• For pregnant women, children under five, older people and anyone with a weakened immune system: beef until no pink remains, and seafood for the full five minutes.
• Raw meat plates stay out no longer than two hours. Leftovers go into the fridge within two hours, keep no more than three days, and are reheated only once, until boiling hot.

Take care

• The broth itself has no fish, crustacean, mollusc, egg, peanut, sesame or milk in it; the soy in the dip contains soy and wheat (gluten).
• Keep raw chicken away from other food, and wash your hands, the board and the knife after handling it; eat the chicken only when there is no pink at the bone. Open coconuts with a heavy knife on a board steadied with a damp cloth, and keep your hand out from under the blade. Fresh coconut water goes in the fridge once opened and is used the same day.

The story

Coconut chicken carries Hainan's name and Hainan's Wenchang chicken, but Shenzhen's own press says it was first made in Shenzhen about twenty years ago, and Hong Kong people took to it there. It is simple: coconut water is the broth, the chicken is poached and eaten first, and the broth is clear and sweet, neither hot nor oily, so the oldest and the youngest at the table can eat it.

Same kind

Clear chicken brothHong Kong satay brothPeppery pork-bone broth

Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.