Hainan Cuisine · FFET10281
Hainanese chicken rice
Hainanese chicken rice is gently poached chicken served with rice cooked in chicken fat and broth, with chili and ginger dips.
A deep white porcelain bowl holds sliced pale chicken and glossy chicken-fat jasmine rice, with green scallion and cucumber, red chili dip and pale ginger-garlic dip, with wooden chopsticks resting on the rim.
The regional cooking of Hainan island, using seafood and local poultry and livestock and keeping the natural taste.
Hainanese chicken rice is chicken poached gently and chilled in ice water, served with rice cooked in chicken fat and the poaching broth, with chili sauce, a ginger sauce, a soy sauce dip and 1 bowl of light soup. Singapore and Malaysia have competing claims to its origin; this entry gives no verdict and no year. It is widely regarded as a Singapore signature dish, an informal view rather than an official designation. The 2 recipes listed use Southeast Asian methods, including 1 Malaysian-style version.
What
Hainanese chicken rice is chicken cooked gently in water and then chilled in ice water, cut up and served with rice cooked in chicken fat and broth. It usually comes with chili sauce, a ginger sauce and a soy sauce dip, plus 1 bowl of light soup.3,4
When
No dated text was found. The separate date claims for Singapore and Malaysia conflict and are secondhand, so this entry adopts neither.1,2
Where
The dish is eaten in Singapore and Malaysia, and each side tells a different story of where it began, without a settled answer.1,2
How
The chicken is poached over low heat and then chilled in ice water. The rice is fried with chicken fat and garlic and cooked in the poaching broth, with chili, ginger and soy sauce dips. The 2 recipes differ on timing: 1 poaches for 30 to 35 minutes; the other simmers for 20 minutes, then rests off the heat for 20.3,4
Impact and influence
Hainanese chicken rice is widely regarded as a Singapore signature dish, an informal view rather than an official designation. Singapore and Malaysia dispute its origin.1,2
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
I make the Southeast Asian form of the dish at home, as it is cooked in Singapore and Malaysia; both recipes I consulted are made this way, one from a family-run food blog and one by a food blogger who calls it Malaysian style. The ratio of rice to broth follows the Malaysian-style recipe, 250 g of rice to 350 ml of broth. The size of the chicken follows the other recipe, 3 to 3.5 pounds, and about 1.5 kg is my own conversion. The two recipes disagree on the poaching time, so I do not copy a time and check doneness instead; the seasoning amounts are my own choices at home.
Ingredients
- Whole chicken 1, about 1.5 kg (about 3.3 lb)
- Ginger 4 slices, plus 2 teaspoons minced
- Scallions 3 stalks
- Salt to taste, with 1 tablespoon to rub on the chicken and more for the soup and the rice
- Jasmine rice 250 g, rinsed and drained
- Garlic 5 cloves, 3 minced for the rice and 2 for the chili sauce
- Chicken fat about 2 tablespoons (rendered from the fat in the cavity, topped up with cooking oil if needed)
- Poaching broth 350 ml, for cooking the rice
- Fresh red chilies 3
- White vinegar 1 teaspoon
- Sugar 1/2 teaspoon
- Light soy sauce 3 tablespoons
- Sesame oil 1 teaspoon
- Cucumber 1, sliced
- Ice and cold water enough to cover the chicken
Steps
- Rinse the chicken, pull the fat out of the cavity and keep it, and rub the chicken all over with 1 tablespoon of salt.
- Fill a large pot with enough water to cover the chicken, add 4 slices of ginger and the scallions and bring it to a bare simmer. Lower in the chicken, cover and keep the heat low.
- Cook until a chopstick pushed into the thick part of the thigh lets out clear juices with no trace of blood, then turn off the heat. The two recipes differ on timing, so I go by this check.
- Lift the chicken into a bowl of ice water and leave it until it feels cool to the touch, then drain. Keep the poaching broth and skim off the foam.
- Melt the chicken fat over low heat, topping up with a little cooking oil if needed, fry the 3 minced garlic cloves and 1 teaspoon of minced ginger until fragrant and stir in the rice for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Move the rice to a pot with 350 ml of the poaching broth and season with salt. Cover and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, then leave it off the heat for another 10.
- Pound the chilies, the 2 garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon of minced ginger, the vinegar, the sugar and 1 tablespoon of broth into a chili sauce. Stir the light soy sauce and sesame oil together for the soy dip.
- Chop the chicken, set it on the cucumber slices and serve it with the rice, the two dips and a bowl of the hot broth seasoned with salt and chopped scallion.
Tips
- I keep the water at a bare simmer and never let it boil hard, which is my own habit and keeps the skin from splitting.
- The family food blog recipe chills the chicken in ice water for about 15 minutes; I leave it until it feels cool to the touch, which is my own way.
Allergens: soy, wheat, sesame