Hawaiian Haystacks
A from-scratch creamy chicken sauce served over rice and piled with delicious toppings.
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup all purpose flour see note
- 1 ½ teaspoon chicken bouillon see note
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups cooked chopped chicken
- ¾ cups sour cream see note
- salt and pepper to taste
- 6 cups cooked white or brown rice see note
- toppings: grated cheese, cooked peas, crushed pineapple, chopped orange bell pepper, chow mein noodles see note for more ideas
Instructions
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In a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour, bouillon, and pepper, and stir with a whisk to combine.
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Heat for a few minutes stirring constantly to remove starches from the flour and develop the sauce's flavor. Then add milk and stir to combine. Heat until sauce is thick and bubbly. Add the chopped chicken and stir to combine. Then add the sour cream and heat until sauce is bubbly, stirring often. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Keep warm until ready to serve. Add a bit more milk before serving if it gets too thick.
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Prepare the rice and toppings. When ready to serve, let each person pile the parts on their own haystack in any order they desire.
Recipe Notes
1. To make this recipe gluten free, you can use a gluten free flour blend and obviously omit the Chow Mein noodles and other toppings that have gluten in them.
2. For the chicken bouillon, I used this homemade chicken bouillon substitute: thecookstreat.com/chicken-or-vegetable-bouillon-substitute/
3. Instead of the sour cream, I've also substituted plain (unsweetened) yogurt with good results.
4. To cook the brown rice in the electric pressure cooker use a ratio of 3:5 for brown rice – that’s 3 parts rice to 5 parts water. Add the water and rice to the pressure cooker pot, add a bit of salt or this homemade chicken bouillon if you want. I usually add about ½ teaspoon of salt or chicken bouillon substitute for every cup of water. Then let it cook on high pressure for 21 minutes. Do a quick release of the pressure. If you prefer white rice or are running out of time, it cooks in only 6 minutes on high pressure with a 3:5 ratio of rice to water in the electric pressure cooker.
5. Here are some additional ideas for toppings, but feel free to use whatever sounds good to you: shredded coconut, chopped green onions, chopped bell peppers (any color), mandarin oranges, chopped spinach leaves, chopped tomatoes, roasted slivered almonds, chopped celery, or sliced olives.
5. The chicken sauce can be cooked ahead of time, frozen and reheated. You may need to add a bit of milk to thin it out a bit before you serve it.