Kuey in Chicken Broth

I came home one day and did not have a clue of what to cook. I knew I had chicken breasts and chicken balls in the freezer. A quick look into the vegetable compartment revealed that I had two aubergines and a few stalks of baby kailan. So far so good, I thought. Then I remembered the several packets of dried rice chips or kuey (similar to flat rice noodles but square, normally used in kuey chap) in my pull-out pantry. That settled it, Kuey in Chicken Broth it was to be.

These were the ingredients I worked with:
3 packets of kuey (serves 2 persons generously)
About 350 grams chicken breast, cut into thick strips
12 chicken balls
2 medium-size round aubergines, sliced and drizzled with olive oil
A few stalks of baby kailan, cut into 2-3 segments
2 cloves garlic, bruised
1 red onion, sliced into rings
About 500ml water
Salt and pepper to taste

What I did:
- Fried the aubergine slices in a non-stick pan to brown both sides (you can grill them if you like). Set aside.
- Blanched the baby kailan. Set aside.
- Boiled and drained the kuey (I followed the instructions on the packet). Set aside (a bit of oil helped prevent the kuey from sticking to one another).
- Placed the remaining ingredients in a saucepan. Brought everything to a boil and continued simmering until all the flavours have amalgamated.

To serve, simply put some of the kuey into a bowl, drench the kuey with the chicken broth (be sure to be generous with the chicken strips and balls), put a few pieces of the fried (or grilled) aubergine and kailan. Sprinkle some chopped coriander and fried onions if you have any. For me, the piece de resistance was the coconut sambal topping it all off!