- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 2h 00 min
- Serving: For 6 People
Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe
Chicken rice, or Hainanese chicken rice, is a dish which originated in the Hainan province in southern China. Considered one of Singapore's national dishes, chicken rice is also popular in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. To make this flavourful meal, you need to poach a whole chicken and serve it over steamed rice with a piquant chilli-based sauce. You might like to scatter some coriander leaves over the finished meal too.
This simple dish is popular all over Singapore and you can make it easily yourself. So which vegetables are good served with chicken rice? You might get fresh cucumber in chicken broth and light soy sauce if you order Hainanese chicken rice in a cafe or restaurant, or even a fresh green salad.
If you like, you can fry some greens and have those on the side. Most of the flavour in the dish comes from the chilli and garlic sauce, since the chicken and rice are so delicate in taste, so you will probably want to keep your vegetable side dish quite plain so as not to clash with the bold chilli sauce flavours.
Ingredients
- lemon juice - 2 tablespoons
- chopped garlic cloves - 5
- chopped red chilli - 2 tablespoons
- salt - to taste
- whole chicken - 1kg
- minced garlic cloves - 6
- chopped spring onion - 1
- fresh ginger - 4 slices
- raw long grain rice - 4 cups
Instructions
- Combine the lemon juice, garlic and chillies in a bowl and add salt to taste.
- Set this sauce to one side.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil and add some salt.
- Stuff the chicken with the spring onion and ginger.
- Put the bird in the boiling water, breast side down.
- Turn the heat down and cover the pot.
- Simmer the chicken for 40 minutes or until cooked through.
- Put the chicken in an ice water bath for 5 minutes to stop the cooking and help crisp up the skin.
- Drain the bird, discard the bones and cut it into bite-size pieces.
- Reserve the chicken stock and keep it hot.
- Heat the oil in a wok over a high heat, then stir-fry the garlic for a minute.
- Add the rice and cook for 1 or 2 minutes.
- Stir in enough of the reserved chicken stock to reach 1 cm above the top of the rice.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, add a teaspoon of salt, and turn the heat down to low.
- When you can see steam holes in the rice, cover the wok and stem the rice for half an hour, or until cooked.
- Whisk 60 ml of the hot chicken stock into the chilli sauce.
- Serve the rice and poached chicken on a platter, drizzled with the remaining chilli sauce.
