Plate 06 of 10

Chicken Long Rice

The luau soup with no rice in it. A whole hand of ginger, crushed with a cleaver, bloomed in oil with garlic, bone-in thighs seared and poached in chicken stock and shoyu, the meat shredded, and cut mung bean threads simmered in the broth until they turn clear and drink a third of it, finished with sesame oil and scallion batons.

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 40 min
Serves: 6
Difficulty: Medium

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

A bowl of clear golden broth full of translucent glass noodles and shredded chicken, scattered with sliced green scallion.

Long rice is the pidgin name for translucent mung bean vermicelli, and the dish came with Chinese contract labourers recruited to the sugar plantations in the mid nineteenth century. It crossed every boundary on the islands and became a fixture of luaus, family gatherings and baby lūʻau parties.

Bone-in thighs simmer in a golden broth ruled by a heavy hand of crushed ginger, the meat is shredded back in, and the cut noodles cook in the pot until they are clear ribbons of chicken and ginger.

Ingredients

900 gBone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
100 gFresh ginger, unpeeled, in thick coins, heavily crushed with a cleaver
25 gGarlic, smashed
200 gDry bean thread noodles, mung bean vermicelli
1.5 LUnsalted chicken stock
500 mlWater
30 mlJapanese shoyu
10 gHawaiian coarse sea saltto taste
10 mlToasted sesame oil
15 mlNeutral oil
40 gScallions, in 2.5 cm batons

Noodles that will not dissolve

Mung bean starch is a third amylose, far higher than grain starch. In hot broth it sets into a crystalline network that stays clear and springy while soaking up stock and ginger like a sponge.

Crush the ginger

Crushing ruptures the cells and frees the ginger oils into the chicken fat on the broth. Simmered between 85 and 95 °C, gingerol partly turns into shogaol, twice as pungent and deeply warming.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is sea salt and shoyu in a clear broth. Fat is rendered thigh fat carrying the ginger aroma. Acid is deliberately absent. Heat is a hundred grams of crushed ginger. Umami is collagen broth, marrow and shoyu.

Equipment

6 to 8-quart stockpot with a lid
Cleaver
Kitchen shears
Ladle

A deep aluminium caldero over gas is the luau pot. Any heavy stockpot with a lid, kept at a gentle simmer, works.

Method

Soak and cut the noodles15 min
Cover the noodles with warm water, about 40 °C, for 15 minutes until pliable. Drain and snip the bundles with shears into 10 to 12 cm lengths.
Cover the noodles with warm water, about 40 °C, for 15 minutes until pliable. Drain and snip the bundles with shears into 10 to 12 cm lengths.
Bloom the aromatics3 min
Heat the neutral oil in the pot over medium. Sauté the crushed ginger and garlic 2 to 3 minutes until fragrant and lightly golden at the edges.
Heat the neutral oil in the pot over medium. Sauté the crushed ginger and garlic 2 to 3 minutes until fragrant and lightly golden at the edges.
Sear the chicken4 min
Add the thighs skin-side down and cook 3 minutes to render and colour, then turn.
Add the thighs skin-side down and cook 3 minutes to render and colour, then turn.
Build the broth5 min
Pour in the stock and water, add the shoyu and salt, and bring to a boil, skimming the grey foam.
Pour in the stock and water, add the shoyu and salt, and bring to a boil, skimming the grey foam.
Poach25 min
Lower to a gentle simmer, about 90 °C, cover, and cook 25 minutes until the thighs read 74 °C at the bone.
Lower to a gentle simmer, about 90 °C, cover, and cook 25 minutes until the thighs read 74 °C at the bone.
Shred8 min
Lift the thighs out and cool 5 minutes. Discard skin and bones and shred the meat with two forks.
Lift the thighs out and cool 5 minutes. Discard skin and bones and shred the meat with two forks.
Cook the long rice10 min
Return the chicken to the simmering pot with the cut noodles. Simmer uncovered over medium-low 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the noodles are fully clear and have absorbed about a third of the broth.
Return the chicken to the simmering pot with the cut noodles. Simmer uncovered over medium-low 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the noodles are fully clear and have absorbed about a third of the broth.
Finish
Off the heat, lift out the large ginger coins if you like, stir in the sesame oil and scallions, and ladle into deep bowls.
Off the heat, lift out the large ginger coins if you like, stir in the sesame oil and scallions, and ladle into deep bowls.
09
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: golden-amber broth, crystal-clear slippery noodles, shreds of chicken, green scallion batons.
- Auditory: a quiet bubble as the thighs poach under the lid.
- Olfactory: a sinus-clearing burst of fresh ginger, chicken broth and toasted sesame.
Check for golden-amber broth, fully transparent slippery noodles, chicken shreds and green scallions. Expect gentle poaching bubbles and pronounced ginger, chicken broth and toasted sesame aromas.

Storing it

The noodles keep drinking broth as they sit. For leftovers, add hot chicken stock when reheating, or cook the noodles separately.

Troubleshooting

One unmanageable clump of noodles.: Whole bundles went in. Snip the soaked noodles into 10 cm lengths.
Cloudy broth and tough chicken.: It boiled. Hold a gentle simmer.
Bland.: Ground ginger or a sliver of fresh. A full hand, crushed hard.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Mung bean vermicelli	Korean sweet potato glass noodles, or thin rice vermicelli	Clear and slippery in hot broth
Bone-in thighs	Bone-in drumsticks or a split whole chicken	The bone collagen matters
Fresh ginger	Galangal, or ginger paste	The same warming rhizome punch

Scaling

Half

450 g thighs, 100 g noodles, 50 g ginger, 1 litre of liquid; same times.

Double

1.8 kg thighs, 400 g noodles and 4 litres in a 12-quart pot; poach 35 minutes.

What to serve it with

Kalua pig, lomi salmon and poi, as the hot course of a luau plate
Chili pepper water, splashed in at the table
Spoonfuls of hot rice dropped into the bowl

Questions

Chicken breast?

It works, but thighs on the bone release gelatin that gives the broth its body.

Will the noodles soak up the broth in the fridge?

Yes. Add hot stock when reheating, or cook the noodles fresh.

Gluten-free?

The noodles are pure mung bean starch. Use tamari in place of shoyu.