Hainanese Chicken Rice
Hainanese Chicken rice is a classic chicken and rice dish that originated from Hainan, a small island province in China. Chinese immigrants then brought this dish to Southeast Asia, where it underwent a transformation, particularly in Singapore and Malaysia. Hainanese Chicken is considered as one of the national dishes of Singapore.
Served room temperature, the chicken is incredibly silky and moist. However the rice is really the star—cooked in the broth from poaching the chicken, served with a trio of condiments and soup from the poaching liquid.
Throughout the years, I’ve developed this recipe to make it easier and faster to make. This recipe does take some work, but it’s well worth it!
This Hainanese Chicken rice recipe is the culmination of trialing different recipes over the years and tweaking it to make it my own.
Ingredients
The Chicken
- 1 whole chicken 1.3 kg, giblets removed
- ¼ cup kosher salt 60 g, divided
- 1 Thumb fresh ginger cut into ¼-inch slices – about 5-6
- 4 stalks fresh scallion
- 8 cups cold water plus more as needed to submerge the chicken
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1-2 Chicken Bouillon
The Rice
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups long grain rice 400 g, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups reserved chicken poaching broth
- 1 tablespoon Chicken Bouillon
Chilli Sauce
- 1 tablespoons sambal
- 1 tablespoons sriracha
- 1 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoons reserved chicken poaching broth
Ginger Scallion Oil
- 1 tablespoons fresh ginger grated
- 3-4 stalks fresh scallion finely chopped
- kosher salt to taste
- 3 tablespoons canola or peanut oil
Soy Dipping Sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 3 tablespoons dark sweet soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons reserved chicken poaching broth
- 2 cucumbers thinly sliced, for serving
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro (optional) for serving
Instructions
Prep the Chicken
- To clean the chicken, rub all over with a handful of kosher salt, getting rid of any loose skin. Rinse the chicken well inside and out. Pat dry with paper towels.
- Season the chicken generously with salt. Stuff the chicken cavity with the ginger slices and scallions.
- Place the chicken in a large stock pot, cover with cold water by 2 cm, and season with salt to taste.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, then immediately reduce the heat to low to maintain a simmer. Cover and cook for about 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F (75°C). Remove the pot from the heat.
- Remove the chicken from the pot, reserving the poaching liquid for later, and transfer to an ice bath for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process and to keep the chicken skin springy. Discard the ginger and green onion.
- After it’s cooled, pat the chicken dry with paper towels and rub all over with sesame oil. This will help prevent the chicken from drying out.
Prep the Rice
- Rinse and Drain the rice.
- Transfer the rice to a rice cooker and add 2 cups (480 ml) of reserved poaching broth, chicken bouillon and salt. Steam the rice for 60 minutes, or until tender.
Prep the Sauces
- Make the chili sauce: combine the sambal, Sriracha, sugar, lime juice, and chicken broth in a small bowl and stir to incorporate.
- Make the ginger garlic sauce: in a small bowl, combine the ginger, scallions, salt, oil and stir to incorporate.
- Make the soy sauce: in a small bowl, combine the reserved fried garlic and ginger with the oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, and chicken broth, and stir to incorporate.
Serve the Chicken
- Carve and Serve the sliced chicken with the rice, dipping sauces, sliced cucumbers, and fresh cilantro. Enjoy!
Notes
- Optional: Brush the chicken with some sesame oil to give it a nice shine and extra nutty flavour.
- You can skip the cleaning the chicken part if you’re in a bit of a hurry. I find that the free-range chickens I use here in Australia are already pretty clean.
- You can butterfly (cut out the backbone) of the chicken to help speed up the cooking time and cook the chicken more evenly. Easier to cut before serving too.