folks….. I think we may have CRACKED the code to probably the BEST homemade Hainanese Chicken Rice in the heartlands. don’t take our word for it, the retired chef uncle that we cooked for approved one..
now, we’re pretty sure there’s a whole chicken rice fanbase on our Substack, so we really wanted to share this well-guarded recipe with you guys. while simple in essence, this recipe was a culmination of recipes & techniques I learnt from friends & several home cooks that I got the chance of cooking with throughout my career.
while the cooking steps for this tend to be quite technical & precise, you could trust me that the ending results would be worth every single bite. also, we’re warning you beforehand that the aroma of rice while being cooked would make you instantly close your eyes into sensory hypnotism.
try this recipe out & then share with us your thoughts on the cooking process in the comments below!
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nOm’s ABSOLUTE BEST Hainanese Chicken Rice
(serves 6)
poached chicken + soup
1 whole FRESH chicken, cleaned
1 tbsp salt + 2 tsp
3 litres water
50g ginger, sliced & bruised
3 spring onion (only the white part, reserve green part for garnish)
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 large bowl ice water
1 chicken stock cube
chicken rice
300g chicken skin + fat, cleaned
500g jasmine rice, washed
3 cloves garlic, smashed
4 shallots, sliced
2 stalks lemongrass, bruised
50g ginger, sliced & bruised
3 coriander roots (save leaves for garnish)
3 pandan leaves, knotted
600ml poaching liquid, hot
1 chicken stock cube, mashed
2 tsp sugar
Salt, to taste
drizzling sauce
4 tbsp good quality light soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp poaching liquid
garnishes
2 Japanese cucumbers, sliced
3 sprigs coriander leaves, sliced diagonally
3 sprigs spring onion, sliced diagonally
servings of achar nyonya
sambal
400g red chilli
30g chilli padi
80g ginger, peeled
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 coriander root
6 calamansi, juiced
2 tbsp rice/cane vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp MSG (optional)
¼ cup poaching liquid
directions:
poaching chicken
to thoroughly clean the chicken, sprinkle salt liberally all over the carcass, including its cavity. massage in the salt well for 1 minute to rub out any impurities, removing any off smell and gaminess. rinse well.
in a large pot, combine water, ginger, spring onion, garlic and salt. bring to a boil.
using a tong or a hanging hook, submerge the chicken gently into the liquid for 10 seconds and take out. repeat this for a couple more times and then set the chicken aside. this helps to tighten the chicken skin and make it supple.
lower heat & wait until the liquid is just simmering gently with minimal bubbling. return the chicken into the liquid and cover the pot with a lid. let the chicken poach for 25 minutes on low heat. then turn off the heat and let it sit in the liquid for another 10 minutes, covered.
fish out the chicken and submerge immediately in ice water to shock it. this stops the chicken from cooking and drying out + leaving a layer of gelatin between the meat and skin.
after 10 minutes, remove and let it sit on a rack. Rub sesame oil all around the chicken to lock the moisture. cover with foil and keep in the fridge until ready to serve.
add in the chicken stock cube into the poaching liquid and season the broth to taste. this will be the poaching liquid for the other components as well as the accompanying soup.
preparing rice
to make rice, first prepare chicken fat. in a cold pot, add the raw chicken fat. turn on heat to medium and let the fat render out fully, remove the solids and skin, adding it to the soup for added flavour.
turn up the heat to medium and add garlic, shallot, lemongrass, ginger, coriander root and pandan. sauté until the shallots become translucent, for about 3 minutes
add the rice and stir well to coat the grains evenly. fry for another 2 minutes to parch the rice.
add the stock cube, and mix well,. transfer to a rice cooker, add hot poaching liquid and season with salt.
cook rice until perfectly done, fluff with a fork and keep warm until ready to serve.
gingery sambal
to make the sambal, simply blend all ingredients in a blender until preferred consistency. cover and let it mature in the fridge for at least 1 hour before serving.
putting it together
to assemble chicken rice, segment the chicken into parts. Remove bones and slice breasts and thighs against the grain. arrange on a sharing plate alongside cucumber. in a bowl, whisk together the drizzling sauce ingredients until dissolved. pour over the chicken and garnish with spring onion and coriander.
serve alongside prepared rice, soup and achar Nyonya.
notes:
using fresh chilled chicken vs frozen chicken makes a whole world of difference. frozen chicken tends to have a gamey, ‘refrigerator’ flavour which is very noticeable in poached chicken.
chicken fat is rarely found in supermarkets in Singapore. however, most wet market chicken vendors in the country put aside batches of chicken skin with fat attached and are usually inexpensive.
if you fancy, you could add vegetables like cabbage, carrot or kailan into the chicken soup to fortify it even further.
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