Hainanese Chicken Rice
Singapore's national treasure: a whole chicken poached silky in ginger broth, rice cooked in that broth with pandan, and the trio of chile, ginger and dark soy that no plate skips.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Hainanese Chicken Rice, in 5 ideas
- The chicken poaches gently, never boiling hard. Low heat is what gives the skin its famous smooth, gelatinous set.
- An ice bath stops the cooking and firms the skin. The small step that separates hawker silken from home rubbery.
- The rice is the real test. Cooked in the poaching broth with rendered chicken fat, garlic and pandan, it should be delicious entirely alone.
- The chile sauce is fresh and bright. Ground raw with lime, because the plate needs its spark from somewhere.
- Save the broth twice over. It cooks the rice, then returns to the table as the clear soup that completes the set.
What you need
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, about 3 1/2 lb
- 4 slices ginger, plus 2 tbsp grated
- 4 green onions
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 2 cups jasmine rice
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 pandan leaves, knotted
- 4 fresh red chiles
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- Dark soy sauce, cucumber and cilantro, to serve
How to make it
Method
Rub the chicken with salt. Bring a pot of water with the ginger slices and green onions to a boil, lower the chicken in breast down, return to the barest simmer, cover, and poach off a hard boil for 35 minutes.
Lift the chicken into a bowl of iced water for 10 minutes. Reserve every drop of the broth. Rub the cooled chicken with sesame oil and salt.
Render a little of the chicken's fat in a pan, or use oil, and fry the garlic until golden. Add the rinsed rice and toast for 2 minutes.
Cook the rice in 2 1/2 cups of the poaching broth with the pandan, then rest 10 minutes and fluff.
Pound or blend the chiles with grated ginger, lime juice, salt and a ladle of broth into a loose, bright sauce.
Chop the chicken into pieces through the bone, or carve it boneless in thick slices. Serve over the rice with cucumber, cilantro, the chile sauce, grated ginger and dark soy, and small bowls of the hot broth alongside.
Strain and chill the leftover broth overnight: the fat lifts off in one clean sheet and the broth beneath is pure gold for soups and congee.