You can easily find this popular dish on every corner. Be it for breakfast, lunch or dinner, with kids or the elderly, it’s quite simply the one local dish that is universally loved. I am of course referring to that timeless classic – Hainanese chicken rice.
The beauty of this iconic dish lies in its simplicity, which is also the hardest thing to nail. We have probably eaten hundreds of servings of Hainanese chicken rice in our lifetime that we are no longer impressed that easily; nor do we give it the recognition it deserves as an integral part of our culinary landscape. It is often taken for granted, as a last resort, as a budget saviour, but sadly, seldom for its taste.
Today, I will be documenting my take on this icon that would hopefully help us rediscover and appreciate how delicious a humble plate of Hainanese chicken rice can be.
It is not the chicken, the rice, nor the sauce. It is all of them in harmony that makes or breaks the dish. This three key components are EQUALLY important, and thus requiring your equal attention.
The Chicken
The chicken should be tender and moist with a glistening skin, dressed with a savoury sauce. I find the best type are those village free-range chickens, better known as ‘kampung chicken’. They are smaller than the usual whole chickens you get in stores but it is well worth, albeit it being pricier too. One free-range chicken would feed a family of four perfectly. It is healthier, the meat texture more succulent, and makes the most amazing stock.
If you’re able to get your hands on 走地鸡 (premium free-range chicken), that would be best! This breed were bred naturally without the use of additives and antibiotics. They are able to roam free, and have a longer growth period, therefore are more delicious. You’d be able to tell the difference between 走地鸡 and other breed as they will have slightly leaner but longer legs as shown in the picture below:
To start, bring a pot of water to boil with some ginger and scallions as aromatics. Massage your chicken gently with some salt to clean the pores and smoothen out the skin. Rinse excess salt, then drop your chicken whole into the boiling water and poach for 30 minutes.
After the half hour is up, remove chicken from water and dunk it straight into ice water. By doing so, you would stop the chicken from overcooking. Also, the shock ice bath would firm up the fats underneath the chicken skin, giving it a gelatinous texture, hold the skin intact and exudes a glistening surface.
If left idle for too long, the chicken meat would dry out therefore we would rub some sesame oil on it before setting aside.
With the stock, skim the top layer of oil and put it in a bowl. I realize that free range chicken produces more chicken oil that is packed with flavour. We will keep this for the chicken sauce and rice later.
The Rice
The rice should be fragrant, velvety soft but not to a point where the grains are broken and mashed together.
In a wok, add some butter, and fry some minced garlic and grated ginger first before tossing in your washed jasmine rice. Instead of plain water, use the chicken stock from the poaching. Toss in some pandan leaves for added fragrance and a touch of salt.
The Sauces
I am preparing 3 sauces to go with Hainanese chicken rice. One for a dressing for the chicken and the other two as a dipping condiment.
As the chicken was not properly seasoned prior to poaching, it therefore craves for this dressing sauce. We are going for a strong, sweet savory taste to “rehydrate” the chicken meat. For this, mix all of the skimmed chicken oil from earlier with some oyster sauce, light soy sauce, and some chicken broth.
The chilli sauce has to be predominantly sour and spicy with a tinge of sweetness. Chilli, garlic, ginger, chicken broth, lime juice and sugar is all you need. Blend all ingredients well. If you like it a little spicier, throw in some birds eye chilies without de-seeding them!
The ginger scallion dressing is even simpler! Grate 1 part ginger to mix with 3 parts of finely chopped scallions into a bowl. Heat up enough oil to cover in pan till it smokes then pour over ginger scallion mixture to awaken them. Season to taste with salt, white pepper and a dash of sesame oil.
I created a video to document how I prepare all three components – the chicken, the rice, and the sauces – to guide you alongside the written recipe below. I also shared a quick time lapse of how I chop up the chicken at the end of the video.
Hainanese Chicken Rice
Ingredients
The Chicken
- 1 whole chicken preferably free-range
- 2 tbsp coarse salt for cleaning chicken
- 5 slices ginger about 1-2" long
- 3 stalks scallion/spring onion cut into 2
- 1 tbsp sesame oil to garnish chicken
The Rice
- 2 cups uncooked jasmine rice washed and rinsed
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp grated garlic
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tsp salt
- 3-4 pandan leaves washed & tied into a knot
The Chicken Dressing
- skimmed chicken oil
- 1½ tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- ½ tbsp chicken broth
The Sauce – Chilli Sauce
- 3 finger-length red chilli de-seeded
- 2 chilli padi de-seed to omit heat
- 3 tsp grated ginger
- 3 garlic cloves peeled
- 1 tsp chicken powder Massel brand recommended
- 2 tsp sugar
- juice from 4 limes
- 2 tbsp chicken broth
The Sauce – Ginger Scallion Sauce
- 3 tbsp finely chopped scallion
- 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
- ⅓ cup cooking oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp sesame oil
The Soup
- ½ head cabbage coarsely chopped
- 2 tsp salt to season soup
- remaining chicken broth
Instructions
The Chicken
- In a large pot and over high heat, boil enough water to cover chicken. Whilst waiting, clean the chicken and exfoliate thoroughly using coarse salt. Rinse chicken well, including the insides. Place scallions and ginger into chicken cavity.
- When water is at hard-boil, carefully add chicken into pot. Let boil for 5 minutes and you will find that some scum will float to the surface. Turn the heat down to low, then use a strainer to skim scum and discard.
- Let simmer over low heat for 30-35 minutes, partly covered. If you're unable to gauge the doneness of the chicken, you can check by sticking a chopstick into the flesh under the leg to see if the juices run clear.
- When the chicken is cooked, turn off the heat and remove pot from the stove. Immediately lift and transfer the chicken into a bowl filled with ice and water. This will stop the cooking process, and give the skin a nice, firm texture. Once cooled, rub some sesame oil all over chicken to prevent it from drying out. Set chicken aside whilst you prepare the rice, condiments and soup.
The Rice
- Clean the rice as you usually do, and drain water.
- In a pan, melt butter over medium high heat. Add garlic and ginger, and fry until fragrant. These aromatics do not need to be browned too much and you definitely do not want to burn them! Add in your drained rice and stir for a minute or two to mix well.
- Transfer to rice cooker, add 2 cups of your reserved chicken broth and season with a pinch of salt. Top with pandan leaves and let cook. While the rice is cooking, prepare the sauces, season the soup and and chop up the chicken for serving.
The Chicken Dressing
- Skim all the chicken oil from broth using a skimmer spoon with fine mesh (I am using this) into a clean bowl.
- Add oyster sauce, soy sauce and broth then stir to combine.
The Sauce – Chilli Sauce
- Blend all ingredients, except chicken broth in a food processor until it becomes a smooth paste. Once chicken broth is ready, you may add it in then adjust sugar, salt and lime juice accordingly to suit your own taste. Leftovers can be stored in airtight container or cling wrapped for 1-2 weeks in the fridge.
The Sauce – Ginger Scallion Sauce
- Mix scallion and grated ginger in a clean bowl.
- Heat up neutral cooking oil enough to cover (I don't measure, I just eyeball approximately ⅓ to ½ cup) until smoking hot.
- Pour over scallion & ginger mixture. Once it has cooled down, season with some salt, white pepper and sesame oil.
The Soup
- Coarsely chop the cabbage into pieces. I tend to shred them with my hands.
- Add them into the broth, and bring to boil over high heat.
- Once boiled, let it simmer over low heat until rice is cooked then season with salt to taste.
Notes
Have you tried this recipe?
IF YOU MADE THIS RECIPE, I’D LOVE TO SEE HOW IT WENT!
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YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO CHECK OUT OTHER DELICIOUS RECIPES HERE.
Glad to see that this site works well on my iPhone , everything I want to do is functional. Thanks for keeping it up to date with the latest. Marilee Allistir Sontag