Hainanese Chicken Rice

The Method for Hainanese Chicken Rice

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1. Scrub the chicken all over with the coarse salt to exfoliate the skin, then rinse thoroughly. Pull out and reserve the fat pockets from the cavity.

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2. Stuff the cavity with 3 spring onions, 4 ginger slices and the garlic, and rub the fine salt over the skin.

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3. Lower the bird into a pot just large enough to hold it and cover with cold water by 2 cm. Add the remaining spring onions and ginger.

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4. Bring slowly to 90°C / 194°F — small bubbles rising, never a simmer — and hold there for 40 to 45 minutes. Use a thermometer.

   Mark done Start 40 min timer

5. Lift the chicken out and plunge it into a large bowl of iced water for 10 minutes. Rub the skin with sesame oil and rest.

   Mark done Start 10 min timer

6. Render the reserved chicken fat in a dry pan over low heat for 8 minutes and strain.

   Mark done Start 8 min timer

7. Fry the garlic and ginger in the chicken fat for 90 seconds, add the drained rice and toast for 3 minutes, then add 600 ml stock, the salt and pandan. Cover and cook 15 minutes, then rest 10.

   Mark done Start 90 sec timer

8. For the ginger-scallion oil, put the spring onions, ginger and salt in a heatproof bowl. Heat the oil until shimmering and pour it over — it will hiss violently.

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9. Blend the chilli sauce ingredients until smooth.

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10. Chop the chicken through the bone into pieces, serve on the rice with a bowl of the remaining hot stock, and pass both sauces.

    Mark done

Related guide: Choosing rice.

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Keep an Eye on These

1. Never let the poaching water simmer. A thermometer is the only reliable way to hold 90°C / 194°F.
2. The ice bath is what gives the skin its texture. Do not skip it.
3. Season the poaching stock only lightly — you will drink it as soup at the end.

Ingredient Swaps

• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
• Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the red chillies. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
• Lemon is the everyday swap for lime in this kind of dish — the acidity plays the same role even though the flavour is not identical.

What to Serve It With

A bowl of the poaching stock with spring onion · Sliced cucumber · Iced barley water

Keeping Hainanese Chicken Rice

Refrigerate cooked chicken up to 3 days and serve cold or at room temperature. The rice keeps 3 days and reheats covered.

Nutrition per Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.