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This Hainanese Chicken rice recipe is the culmination of trialing different recipes over the years and tweaking it to make it my own.
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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.