The Cook Up with Adam Liaw – Season 7 Episode 1 – Chicken & Rice

The Cook Up with Adam Liaw – Season 7 Episode 1 – Chicken & Rice

Adam is joined in the kitchen by chef Darren Roberston and commentator Jelena Dokic to cook with two classic ingredients: chicken and rice.

In each episode, host Adam Liaw is joined by 2 special guests – chefs, cooks and celebrities – and together they cook up a variety of dishes, sharing their knowledge, tips and tricks of the trade, and providing everyday inspiration for foodies and non-foodies alike.

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[Music] hello Madam Leo and welcome to the Cook up the show that is always on hand to answer your please for dinner ideas because this show is always on like always tonight we are making a cheats Clay Pot rice one pot chicken rice with lemon and olives and chicken risoto let’s meet our guests like me Darren Robertson has appeared on just about every cooking show in Australia he’s a sustainability minded Chef author and co-owner of the restaurant group three blue ducks and he doesn’t mind a bit of awful hello Darren hello mate love you to be here Adam fearless and unbreakable the two adjectives that you could use to describe my second guest and not just because they are the titles of her chart topping books she’s a former top 10 tennis player whose resilience now shines in her work as a commentator and speaker welcome Elena doic hi Adam thank you for having me great to have you here yena you are kicking so many goals as an author and TV presenter now what do you like better do you like being on the Telly and and speaking to people who were in the same situation that you were in earlier years or do you like putting your your thoughts down on the page I think a bit of everything I actually genuinely find it hard to tell you I like one better than the other I’ve Loved writing my books and and being an author and I never knew that I had uh such an ability I would say and power through words and writing but also tennis is something I love so much and to be able to actually turn that into being on TV and commentating fulltime I’m I’m really proud of that as well and then to also be a speaker and speak in front of people sometimes a thousand people is also something then completely different but I love them all because they put me under pressure I like pressure I like something new I like a challenge so I I love everything I do I look at your career and it just it Gob smacks me you know like tennis from the age of this to now everything you now my hat goes off to you it’s incredible thank you Darren three blue ducks has grown into it’s bigger than benhur these days you’ve got the farm you got restaurants all over the place how do you manage your time with all the things that you have going on I kind of set boundaries I think being a father I’m pretty clear about that but be honest I actually still love it I still love Hospitality I love the the the industry the camaraderie and only love to still love to cook and and just share recipes so I think there’s only seven days a week so it’s managing that time to the best of your ability yeah it’s something that everyone struggles with but uh I’m glad we all seem to do a reasonable job of it well forget Beyonce and Jay-Z or Batman and Robin there is no Duo more iconic than chicken and rice why is chicken and rice such a common combination around the world I think it’s versatility it it’s it offers this sort of beautiful blank canvas to introduce so many other flavor profiles whether it’s a beautiful aromatic Indian or tiar Curry true a little Moroccan number like you know olives and it’s so approachable for the home cook and professional chefs alike I would cook something like this at every fortnite a chicken and rice combination of some description certainly at home youen you have Eastern European Heritage is is there a childhood chicken and rice dish that you think of and go oh yeah that was part of my childhood or was it is was your childhood literally just flying around the world playing tennis oh no uh look I was born in Croatia so Eastern Europe and I came to Australia when I was 11 so I grew up on a Balan Cuisine the Eastern European that’s uh very different but also then I’ve traveled the world a lot as well my favorite Cuisine is Italian so I don’t know if I would say that there’s one favorite I do like risotto I really do uh and it’s part of that Italian cuisine but again chicken and rice kind of feel like you have in every Cuisine that we talk about so I love it I grew up eating H and chicken rice but I’ve shown you guys how to make that quite a few times before so I’m going to show you something a little bit different I’m making a cheat claypot [Music] rice so claypot rice is a really popular dish around Hong Kong Malaysia Singapore those kind of places and it’s essentially rice often cooked in chicken stock uh and then you put chicken and a few other things on top of that and it all Cooks together I’m doing a cheats version where I’m just going to use regular rice that we’ve cooked previously because honestly this is the version that I make at home because we’ve always got rice cooked and so it’s very easy to to put some stuff on top of that rice and Co it The Clay Pot rather than cooking the whole thing fulltime in The Clay Pot so I’m just chopping some L Chong this is uh cantony style uh cured sausage a fantastic ingredient uh get a good quality one keep it in your fridge or freezer lasts for a billion years so it’s a great way to have this kind of thing always on hand I’m chopping a few shitake mushrooms here what sort of rice do you typically use for this look at home we generally eat Koshi Kar rice uh or Y Pika which are two Japanese varieties I’m using Jasmine today cuz that’s probably a more common rice for for use in the dish like this uh but you can use anything you want you know some people like Basmati for various reasons I don’t think Basmati would work hugely well here but all the others would be quite fine uh chicken thigh I think is the choice for this you don’t really want to go for breast or even Chicken on the bone would be great for this as well Darren learning to cook why did you do that I’m still asking myself no I um I was studying Art and Design and um I was washing up in a little seafood restaurant in My Hometown Back in the UK and the head chef there just worked for Marco Pier white who as we know is a very influential chef and he had released white heat which was you know it was the a legendary book yeah and and he shared it with me just because it was quite it was quite revolutionary at the time because of the photography just like black and white grainy shots of kitchens that have now become cliche and I just saw this guy and he was like long hair smoking cigarettes I think there were shots of Kylie monog in the kitchen it was just like it was Rockstar and for a young impressionable kid washing up I’m like okay that’s me so I kind of put down the paintbrush and picked up the chef’s knife and um and that was it and I was really fortunate to work in some fantastic kitchens around the UK Michelin star restaurants and then ended up down under the other side of the planet working for tsuya it is incredible how you know this chefing as a career that I guess often you would think of as taking place in a windowless room for your entire life ends up being this thing that can take you all around the world I still pinch myself I’m like look at where we are look at where we’re cooking that like you know it’s um yeah it’s it’s it’s amazing I’ve got my sort of cutting done here so I’m going to start to fry off a few things or with the chicken then I will add in the L Chong and then the mushrooms and then I’ll put in some seasonings as well the seasonings I’m using a very simple soy sauce and Shing wine which I’ll add first then I’ll add some this is caramel sauce but it’s sort of similar to a dark soy sauce it’s just a bit thicker and a bit sweeter uh some oyster sauce I’m add some sugar to that as well so Elena I’m going to assume you’ve been playing tennis for most of your life at what age do you start to show promise in that regard I don’t know maybe 11 11 12 uh I think you could maybe see some promise I kind of felt like once I won my first Junior Grand Slam and became the number one Junior in the world then maybe I can you know go on here there’s bit of a signs there maybe could be something I I also started to show promise when I won my first J uh but yeah I’m a big believer in even if you have the talent you got to work hard I always say I would rather have a person that has L talent but is committed and works hard than the other way around you look at athletes like yourself and it’s like oh well they must just be naturally gifted they must always have it yeah while you might see a lot of pro tennis players and go ah they’re gifted they’re talented lot of that is actually hard work yeah yeah what a shame I just assumed I had to do as many things as possible to find the thing that I was naturally gifted at and then it wouldn’t have to work anymore so my ingredients are all in I’m going to add my so sauce first I don’t know if it’s a rule but this is what I do I always add ingredients that have a bit of alcohol in them so soy sauce and wine obviously you always add those against the edge of the walk just to let it Sizzle it’s just what I’ve been taught then the oyster sauce and stuff you can just sort of whack in and this dark caramel sauce as well if you didn’t have this this is I I love this as an ingredient it makes everything dark but it is actually uh you could actually just use dark soy sauce if you wanted to I’m going to use some of the shitake steeping liquid cuz I’ve added quite a lot of savory things in there I’ll put a bit of sugar Ino and I’ll list that simmer for a touch to reduce down certainly smells the part M it I just like doing it this way because it kind of idiot proofs it a little bit like I’ve had some problems with Clay Pot rice in the past where because the chicken’s releasing a lot of moisture you cook it together with the rice and you you have to sort of get that moisture level right so the rice isn’t luggy takes the guess work out yeah and it’s a lot faster too so I’m just going to put my rice in here Darren are you any good at tennis I used to be right actually I’m not not your comments because you’re sitting next to a former world number four not not great I loved playing uh the game with my younger days and cuz I was quite tall I had I had a half decent serve in my in my little town but yeah there definitely no no Talent um no Talent here I’m going to go out in limb and say that I am absolute rubbish at tennis but I still love playing yeah you know the thing that I am amazed by with sports is I can watch people like yourself on TV doing at the very very highest level and then I can go out onto a court myself and do it at the very lowest level but I can still enjoy it I’m so competitive in every other thing that I do if I wasn’t half decent at cooking I I just wouldn’t do it but with sports I don’t care how bad I am I just love doing them yeah I think tennis is the the type of sport where even if you’re not great at it you can go out there hit some balls move move around and and still enjoy it I find a lot of people uh yeah just love to play tennis for a bit of fun or a bit of exercise and it is a very technical sport you really is but it’s the one that you can play whether you’re 5 years old or whether you’re 90 yeah it is great that you can still enjoy it in so many different facets you know like I don’t play AFL anymore but I still enjoy watching it on the Telly I’m just putting my chicken and laap Chong and everything all on top of the rice and this liquid that’s here is going to essentially be what flavors the rice underneath I’ve got a bit of oil in there as well and you want this to be very Savory because you’re essentially wanting to season the rice with everything that’s going on there so that can go to one side now this can go onto the Heat and I’ll just heat that on low heat to get that Clay Pot Taste of like toasted rice on the base love it so those sources as they go down to the bottom they’ll start to do that we’ll finish it with some vegetables and spring onion Darren if there was a sport that you could be professional at like just pretend that you don’t have to do the hard work you you’re immediately world champion in what sport what would that be uh I think from the UK it was it was probably was we football or or soccer I think I was my dad was amazing he was a very very gifted um soccer player and and I was not unfortunately and I think I would have you know I would have loved to have uh you know traveled the world being a bit of a soccer star if you want to cook was there a backup plan if you I I can do absolutely nothing else you Master Chef it’s the only thing I know is cooking there’s there’s no other Talent what about you I love watching sport I love playing sport I I actually don’t think I would enjoy doing it professionally I’m a lazy bones I’m just throwing some uh Puck Choy in here uh a little bit of oil so that that just glosses as it comes out this is smelling good so the lid of the play pot can come off you can already see that that’s toasting underneath I’ll move the veggies out of here and just lay a few on top sprinkler of spring onions cheats claypot [Music] rice I had my uh my dad and my stepmother around and we were sort of short to Dish and I made this and it was such a high compl my stepmother was like do you really do that in 10 minutes and I was like yes I did that’s beautiful that is truly delicious I’m definitely going to make that at home please do when we return Darren and Helena will get [Music] cooking welcome back to a night of chicken and rice on the cookout with two worldclass guests Chef Darren Robertson and Tennis Legend yena doic yena what are you making I am making a chicken and vegetable risoto lovely and Darren what do you got on the bo today this is a a legit one pot wand so it’s chicken green olives and Macadamia [Music] beautiful we’ve got some chicken cutlets Browning off in the pan what are they Browning in U A Touch of ghee as you can see it’s rendering down so you get loads and loads of fat coming off that chicken which I’m going to use that to to fry off some spices garlic onion the rice um wind in a whole bunch of sock and you can either Chuck this in the oven or you know pop it on a little camping stove or on your stove to cook amazing you got some preserved lemons Macadamia Carrs uh green olives of there’s Curr like sweetness the currants like salty olives and preserved lemon and then just like a really citrusy salad to go with it your wife magdalina Rose friend of the show has been in here in this very kitchen uh both of you talented chefs and corks uh your children must eat well they Doo actually yeah they really good eaters but we’ve got them involved in cooking from very early age yeah they’re pretty much eating everything and we tried oysters not huge fans but apart from oysters in Chile and they’re pretty good my eldest used to love oysters I remember one time we were down in Tasmania he ate two dozen in a sitting and now he’s off them doesn’t need him anymore but he he’ll be back later give him give him another 15 years that looks the color of that is is absolutely fantastic it’s beautiful and so I’ve just turn the heat down and next going to throw in so I’ve got some greater garlic in there an onion proper one pot dish good pinch of spice sort of like two three what what are the spices that you got in there so this is coriander seeds fennel and and cumin which I’ve roasted I think like quite aggressively I think it’s it’s um it makes a huge difference you really let the spices become aromatic those three in particular are actually quite good textural spices a littleit bit I love that to give it a little bit of a pop sometimes of a whole fennel not a huge fan of chomping into a cardamum or anything like that but those three spices are so R in as well I can’t even work out at this point whether we’re sort of I guess it doesn’t make much difference whether it’s more Indian influenced or middle eastern influenced but I guess there is so much crossover between those Cuisines because of the mugal Empire that well as soon as the olives go in I see which direction you and the preserved lemon obviously of course so olives preserved lemon some of these I kind of use macadamia is a lot of we’re surrounded by Macadamia Forest certainly in the northern Rivers so I use it a lot um in in our cooking alsoo the Macadam is going in like pre a bit a bit of crunch yeah okay um chicken back on winding our stock beautiful and we’re talking 20 30 30 minutes yeah so this so lid on 20 minutes and just even some of those resting juices wi that in there as well from the chicken beautiful love itena yeah this is uh this is I I really love the concept of this chicken and vegetable Roto because what’s in there right now well we’ve got butter and olive oil we brought that to heat and then garlic onion and carrots beautiful and we just stir that a little bit until it’s just a little bit softened and so what rice are you using I’m using aboro rice okay lovely for this ratoo so we’re going to put in the rice now and what that does is you just leave it in there for a minute or two until it’s just lightly coated yeah coated with that oil toasted a little bit yes just gives you a lot more flavor yes before we actually start adding in the stock sure so just a minute or two what’s your risotto Vibe like I grew up with the thicker rotos that we would have in the ’90s and early 2000s some people like to have their result it’s very very thin and Al Dente uh almost soupy in in a way uh what what’s your preference I like a thicker Roto yeah right but I I really don’t like my rice to be overcooked like it has to be D but I also like different things in there I like the meat in there I like the veggies in there as well I think it’s great yeah absolutely brilliant this is one of those where there’s a little bit of everything and can I start can I help you with the stock you can please do how much to start with so we going to put in two ladles okay and so do you like to stir yeah I constantly I do I kind of feel that’s probably the control freak in me from tennis and everything that I do I don’t like to leave it to chance you know but um yeah we just wait that to just soak up a little bit and then you continue adding that stock from there as soon as it soaks it up I’ll I’ll leave you to the cathis and relaxation of adding stock to Roto thank you all right Darren a little something to finish yeah so something just to sort of freshen up a nice little vibrant Herby salad so we’ve got some Water Crest mints and parsley work really well and I’m just it’s the simplest of vinegarette so it’s literally just lemon juice salt pepper olive oil yeah shot for a bit of crunch lovely and that’s it so you’re not even chopping the herbs you’re sort of tearing them no I’m just I’m just sort of roughly um just picking these yeah you can run a knife through if if you like I do think that having the shape of the herb and also the ability to actually bite into it is so much so important for getting the fragrance of it I’m not a huge fan of finally chopped anything to be honest but no I agree it’s it’s nice to see what you’re cooking with and what’s and what you’ve kind of picked try and pick it just before um serving dress it just before it goes up just those those sort of little those Basics so very very simple uh olive oil lemon I’ll wi that in just before we place up good pinch of salt and pepper very important the old seasoning of the the salad I think and and that’s really is there like there’s so much going on with the rice itself it’s just something that’s nice and vibrant love it okay Elena the rice has uh increased in size dramatically it has now the chicken is going in chicken’s going in as well as the vegetables a bit of zucchini and capsicum I canum yes beautiful so I’ve got that in there and I’ve just kept adding stock and letting that Rice absorb it and a little bit exactly yep and we just now keep stirring that for about 7 8 minutes yeah and the chicken will cook the rice will cook and’ll all uh come together like one big happy family after the break Darren and yena’s chicken and rice nice and to rinse or not to rinse that is the question and I’ll answer it when we come [Music] [Applause] back welcome back to the cookout where food great Darren Robertson and Tennis great Yola doic are helping me celebrate two great ingredients chicken and rice yena how’s things going very good almost there looks great and Darren this is wow that it really is a true one pot wonder it really is yeah so um season the salad with plenty of lemon yeah and then give that a little bit of a mix lovely stra over the top and that’s that’s that’s really it really my kind of food I love it I truly do I love it that’s so so clever I I love this I truly love this idea for a risoto it’s it’s it’s once like Darren’s a true one p dish yeah it is just putting in the final bit of cheese there we’re pretty much done like how it’s creamy that to me is the perfect rotto texture you thank you it really is like I think if you can tap the base of the bowl and see it settle like that is that’s that’s a thank you I’ll take that from a true professional and then we just grade a bit of Parmesan there we go beautiful one pot chicken rice with lemon and olives and a chicken and vegetable [Music] risotto this is a really cool idea for an an all-in risotto thank you great so creamy and the rice is the perfect alento texture is it I like this texture so I’m happy with the texture all right Darren here we go oh my that is so good that is why you’re a professional CH but this is typical Robertson household meal lovely and the freshness of that herb salad on top is so is so delicious thanks man love it I get asked a lot when it comes to cooking rice how to do it properly and it’s not very difficult we’ve done on this show before around measuring and things but I just want to answer one question that people often have about whether you wash your rice and how much to wash your rice so I have here a few props to explain my theories when you buy rice regardless of the size of the packet it comes in whether it’s a little one like this or you know I buy it in 5 kilo bags usually but as it’s moving around in transport the rice is kind of moving against itself and rubbing against all the other grains so that once you actually get to putting it into a bowl you’ve got the grains of rice but you’ve also got sort of a lot of rice powder that’s gone around there my grandma would also you’ve got to wash the rice to get rid of all the bugs and the rocks and stuff these days you don’t get a lot of bugs and rocks in your rice but when my grandma’s growing up that was certainly the case but you don’t just wash the rice to clean it it’s about and this is you know straight out of the packet you get the rice into a bowl and you just give it a bit of a rinse with your hand like this and you can see that the water that comes away from it and I don’t use a Sie or anything like that uh is really quite cloudy so what that is is essentially the starch and the protein from the outside of the rice that is clouding that water if you cook your rice without washing it it becomes a bit too gluggy it will just sort of be mushy and stuck together so youve got to wash it a few times to get rid of that I guess starchy water first separate Point depends on what kind of rice that you’re using if you’re using buz mmati rice you can probably wash it as much as you like because you want it to be very separate you’re using jasmine rice you probably don’t want to wash it until the water is completely clear but you want to wash it probably a little bit better this is Koshi K rice Japanese rice that is made for picking up with very thin chopsticks usually so you do want that to stick together a little bit so the rule of thumb with Japanese rice is I think about three times you would wash it and pour the water away and then cook it from there what about a boreo R Us rot I don’t mind not washing our Bor Darren what do you like rotto wise do you wash I would never wash it because all that starch and creaminess actually assist like finish result and if there’s a few bugs it’s good for the protein a couple rocks and bugs you know bulk it out well I think we’ve answered all the the rice washing questions we could ask for yena Darren thank you so much for joining me thank you so much pleasure which came first the chicken or the rice whichever one it was they’re a combination worth crossing the road for no joke if you want more of the cook up and more delicious food ideas head to SBS on demand I’m Adam Leo thank you for watching the cook up [Music]