Hainanese chicken rice is food from China. Yet, it is popular in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and other regions in Southeast Asia. It is steamed chicken with warm soup and spice rice. This food is light, savory, and perfect if you need to warm up in your body in the winter or the cold weather. Let’s warm the body up with this menu!
Ingredients – 1 whole Chicken 1,5 kg / 3,3 lbs – 3 cm Ginger (lightly crushed) for poaching the chicken – 2 cloves Garlic (lightly crushed) for poaching the chicken – 6 cm Ginger finely chopped – 6 cloves Garlic finely chopped – 2 tbsp Soy Sauce – 3 tbsp Sesame Oil – 4 Red Chillis – 8 Bokcoy halves vertically – 1 tbsp Cooking oil – 3 cups Uncooked Rice – 4,5 cups Chicken Stock – 2 tbsp Chicken Stock for chilli sauce – Sea Salt – 1 L Cold Water + Ice cubes – Sugar a pinch
Hainanese Chicken 1. Pat dry whole chicken with a kitchen towel. Sprinkle 2 tbsp sea salt all around the chicken skin and inside the cavity. Then put in the large ziplock bag with no air in it and the skin sticks to the ziplock bag or large plastic bag. Put it in the fridge and let it marinate for about 24 hours (recommended) or overnight. This will make the salt seep into the flavorful chicken. 2. After 24 hours, let the chicken out of the fridge for about 1 hour to room temperature. After that, clean the chicken with running water. 3. In a large pot, add approximately 2 L of water, 1 inch lightly crushed ginger & 2 cloves lightly crushed garlic with high heat until boiling. Turn off the heat and then add the chicken. The water should cover the chicken. Turn on the heat again and bring it to a boil. Cover the pot and turn off the heat. Let the chicken poached in the pot for about 45 minutes – 1 hour. (while you wait you can start making the Hainanese rice, the instruction below)
4. After that, take out the chicken from the pot. Be careful to not tear the skin. In a large bowl filled with cold water + ice cubes, add the chicken and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. It allows the chicken skin to be gelatinous and locks in the chicken juices inside. 5. Meanwhile, you can start to turn on the heat again and boil the bokcoy for 3 minutes. Set aside. 6. After 15 minutes, remove the chicken from the ice bath. Pat dry the chicken with a paper towel. 7. In a bowl combine 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp sesame oil, and 1 tbsp water from poaching the chicken. Lightly massage the chicken with about 2 tbsp of the sauce. Set aside the rest of the sauce for later.
Hainanese Rice 1. Rinse the uncooked rice at least two times. Drain the water. Add the chicken stock, 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger, 1 tbsp finely chopped garlic, 1 tbsp sesame oil, and 1 tbsp sea salt. Cook the rice in the rice cooker.
Chili Sauce 1. in a pan, lightly saute the cooking oil, the rest of the ginger and garlic on a low heat until fragrant. Combine and grind red chillis, sauteed ginger, garlic, a pinch of salt and sugar, 2 tbsp chicken stock in a spice grinder until becoming a paste. Assembly the Hainanese Chicken Rice 1. Cut the whole chicken by separate the breasts, the legs, and the wings. And cut each of them ½ inch wide. 2. On a plate, prepare a cup of the Hainanese rice per serving. Add several cuts of the Hainanese chicken, and bokcoy. Enjoy it with sesame + soy sauce and chili sauce.