Hawaiian Haystacks

One of my favorite dishes to serve when my family gets together is Hawaiian Haystacks.  It is a very simple and versatile meal that can accommodate lots of eating sensitivities.  There are three basic components to this dish.  The first is rice (but quinoa can be substituted).  The second is a chicken gravy.  Everyone that I know makes the gravy differently.  I personally love it with coconut milk.  It is also nice to add curry, onions, and garlic.  However, the instructions below are for a low FODMAPs basic gravy.  The last component is the toppings.  I personally think the sky is the limit on the toppings.  I have included a few ideas below.

Chicken Gravy

1 whole chicken, a fryer about 4-5 lbs
sea salt
2 bay leaves
1/2 - 1/3 cup of starch (corn starch, glutenous rice, tapioca)

Wash and put the chicken into a large stock pot.  Almost cover the chicken with water.  Add some sea salt and the bay leaves.  Let the chicken gently boil for about 2 hours.  After the chicken is cooked pull it out of the pot, leaving the chicken stock behind.  Let it cool and then de-bone the chicken.  Shred up the chicken and put it back into the pot with the chicken stock.  Heat up the chicken to bring it back up to a boil.  Mix the starch into about a 1/2 cup of water.  Slowly add the starch mixture into the chicken gravy while constantly stirring the chicken gravy.  The starch will thicken up the chicken gravy, but you need to let it boil for about a minute before you can tell how thick it will be.  If your chicken gravy is too thin you can just mix up some additional starch to get the consistency you want. 

Topping ideas

fresh pineapple
green onions
tomatoes
celery
cucumbers
bell peppers
oranges
bananas
coconut
rice or mung bean noodles that have been fried in oil