Hainanese chicken rice (海南雞飯) is one of my top favourite dishes in Singapore. You will find it everywhere in the country, including hawker centres, food courts and cafes. It was believed that this dish was developed by the Hainanese people when they immigrated to Singapore in the 19th Century.
Hainanese chicken rice is a complete meal of poached chicken, served with fragrant rice, sliced cucumber, a light chicken soup and various sauces. Many Singaporeans would argue that the most important part of this dish is not the chicken but the rice.
The chicken is cooked by poaching which will produce tender and succulent meat. Once the chicken is cooked, it is plunged into an ice bath. This stops the cooking process and tightens the chicken skin, improving its mouth-feel. The poaching liquid is then used to make the rice and the soup.
Traditionally, Hainanese chicken rice is accompanied by three sauces – a freshly minced red chilli sauce, a ginger dipping sauce and a sweet dark soy sauce.
The soy sauce is very dark and as thick as molasses. In Singapore, it is known as hak yau (黑油) (literally means dark sauce). It is different to the Chinese or Japanese soy sauce. If you can’t find “hak yau”, use the Indonesian kecap manis which has very similar taste and consistency.
Ingredients
- 1.2-1.5kg whole organic or free range chicken
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- A few slices of ginger
- 2 spring onions, cut into sections
- 1 tsp salt
- Ice cubes
- 1 small cucumber, sliced diagonally
- sweet dark soy sauce ("hak yau") or kecap manis
- 1 spring onion, finely diced (for the soup)
For the rice:
- 2 tbsp groundnut oil
- Some chicken fat (from the chicken cavity)
- 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 360ml jasmine rice (equivalent to 300g or 2 go, please see "Cooking White Rice by Absorption"
- 396ml chicken stock (poaching liquid)
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the chilli sauce:
- 5 long red chillies
- 1 garlic clove
- 2cm knob ginger
- 1.5 tbsp chicken stock (poaching liquid)
- 1.5 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the ginger dipping sauce:
- 50g ginger, very finely chopped
- 3 tbsp groundnut oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Remove the fat from the cavity of the chicken and reserve for cooking the rice.
- Add Shaoxing wine, ginger, spring onions and salt to a tall stockpot which will be large enough to accommodate the chicken. Fill the pot with water to about 3/4 full. Bring to the boil.
- Carefully lower the chicken into the water. Add or remove some water so that the chicken is just covered by the water. Bring to the boil. Lift the chicken out of the water, and drain the less hot water inside the cavity into the pot. Lower the chicken back into the pot. The cavity will now be filled with much hotter water ensuring that the chicken will be evenly cooked. Once the water boils again, turn off the heat. Cover the pot with a lid and leave the chicken to steep for 25 minutes.
- Turn on the heat again. Lift and drain the chicken one more time, following the procedure described above. Bring to the boil. Turn off the heat and let it stand for another 15 minutes. The chicken should be cooked at this stage. If you have a meat thermometer, insert it into the thickest part of the thigh but not touching the bone. The internal temperature of the meat should reach about 75°C.
- Lift the chicken out of the pot and drain the water from the cavity. Plunge into a bath of water with plenty of ice cubes. Leave it to cool for 15 minutes. Thoroughly drain the chicken. Set aside.
- For the rice, heat a wok or frying pan over medium high heat. Add the oil, the chicken fat, ginger and garlic. Stir fry until they are fragrant. Add the rice and toss so that the grains are evenly coated with the fat. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes until the grains become translucent. Transfer the rice mixture to a clay pot or an electric rice cooker. Add the chicken stock (poaching liquid) and salt. Follow the instructions "Cooking White Rice by Absorption" if you are using a clay pot.
- For the chilli sauce, use a mortar and pestle to pound the chillies, ginger and salt. Then mix in the remaining ingredients. Alternatively, use a food processor to blend all the ingredients.
- For the ginger dipping sauce, mix the ginger and salt in a bowl. Heat the oil until it is hot and smoky. Pour into the bowl and the ginger should sizzle for a few seconds.
- For the soup, skim the fat from the remaining chicken stock (poaching liquid) and strain into a saucepan using a sieve. Boil and reduce the volume of the stock by about one-third to intensify the flavour. Adjust the seasoning with salt.
- Chop the chicken in Chinese style. You may wish to serve the rice and chicken on the same plate. Lightly grease the inside of a rice bowl and fill with the cooked rice. Press it down. Turn upside down over the serving plate and ease out to form a mould. Arrange the chicken pieces and the cucumber slices on the side. Add some spring onion dices into the soup. Serve with sweet dark soy sauce, chilli sauce and ginger dipping sauce.
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