Macau's Portuguese Curry Gratin

Yesterday I went savoury again and baked a Portuguese Fried Rice Gratin (hailed from Macau, so it's more Asian than European). It was a ...

Yesterday I went savoury again and baked a Portuguese Fried Rice Gratin (hailed from Macau, so it's more Asian than European). It was a good bake and my family really liked it. Brendan the half-Portuguese said it's yummy too, but I don't know if he was just patronising me (heehee I'm kidding he really thought it was delicious... I hope).

I didn't manage to photograph the entire process because I was busy trying to make sure the rice didn't burn and the sauce wasn't curdling. There was also a lot of running around the kitchen, chopping and grating ingredients, throwing measuring cups and spoons all over.

One thing I enjoy about cooking up a 'savoury' storm in the kitchen is the ability to match ingredients to my own taste without destroying the molecular or physical theory behind the dish. I could add more than half a cup of scallions if I feel like it, but I can't add more than half a stick of butter into my bread mix if my recipe didn't say so. Baking is... precise. Any miscalculation can tip the entire project upside down. But cooking, cooking is something different. A lot of times the recipe calls for "to taste", and I like being able to make my own decisions (the irony ha ha ha).



450 grams chicken fillet / chicken breast
2 tbsp vegetable oil
Salt and ground white pepper to season

FRIED RICE:
2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus more if needed
3 eggs, beaten
3 cups (510 grams) cooked rice, preferable a-day-old or slightly on the dry side
1 1/4 cup (115 grams) finely diced scallions
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground white pepper

MACANESE (PORTUGUESE STYLE) CURRY SAUCE:
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more to top
2 medium shallots, grated
3 cloves garlic, grated
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tbsp curry paste
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
400 ml coconut cream
80 grams whole milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 40 grams gruyere cheese to top
Salt to season

Instructions

TO COOK THE CHICKEN: Cut the chicken in small bite-size pieces, then season with salt and ground white pepper. Heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil over high heat in a non-stick skillet, then cook the chicken until slightly browned on the edges. Reserve 2/3 of the amount for fried rice, then roughly break up the rest for the sauce.

TO FRY THE RICE: Heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil over high heat in a wok or deep skillet, then add the beaten eggs. Before the eggs solidify, mix in the cooked rice with a wooden spatula and let the runny eggs partially coat the grains. After each grains are evenly separated and heated (if it seems dry, add a bit more oil), add the diced scallions, salt and ground white pepper. Mix evenly then add the reserved fish. Gently fold everything together then set aside.

TO MAKE THE SAUCE: Cook vegetable oil, unsalted butter, grated shallots, garlics and ginger in a pot over medium heat for 2 minutes until very fragrant. Turn the heat down to medium-low, and add curry paste, all-purpose flour and ground black pepper. Stir constantly and cook for a few min until the mixture starts to brown slightly, but careful not to burn. Whisk in the coconut cream and whole milk (make sure there's no lump), add the shredded chicken and simmer the mixture for 5~7 min until thickened and reduced very slightly. Now melt the grated cheddar cheese into the sauce, and re-season with more salt if needed.

TO BAKE THE GRATIN: Preheat your oven (use either the broil or grill setting) to high (mine was about 260 C). Lightly butter the interior of the baking-dish, then spread the fried rice evenly across. Pour in the sauce and make sure it completely covers the fried rice. Scatter more grated cheese over the top, plus a few small nubs of unsalted butter and a bit of ground black pepper. Bake on medium-high rack inside the oven until browned and bubbly on top. Serve immediately.

(Adapted from Lady and Pups)


(Obviously the skin tone of my hand isn't that fair...)


I actually modified the recipe quite a bit as compared to Lady and Pup's. Her recipe called for fish (i.e. cod) but I find it easier to work with chicken. I used two types of cheese in this gratin (hmmm I love all things cheesy). I also replaced coconut milk with coconut cream instead and reduced the amount of milk added. This made the paste very thick but I like it like that. 


I also made a couple of very, very silly mistakes: I actually cooked 3 cups of rice, so instead of using 3 cups of cooked rice in this recipe, I used at least 6 cups (joke of the day). So it was expected that I had less curry sauce for the huge amount of rice in my baking-dish. Don't make the same mistake! I also misread 3/4 tsp for 3/4 tbs of salt (this is very very grave) and my fried rice ended up more salty than I'd prefer... I managed to salvage it by removing salt entirely from the curry sauce ;)


All in all, I would consider baking this again because 1) it's easy, 2) it's convenient and 3) it's tasty. But for those who know me I'm sure you wouldn't expect the same thing on this space again because I prefer trying new things instead. It's a good choice for a potluck though!

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