Last night, there was a replay of the No Reservations episode shot in Singapore and, suddenly, I missed Singapore. I love the vibrancy of that city-state — the food stalls where the food is so good it seems silly to go to pricey restaurants, the shops in the air-conditioned underground tunnel, the food, the train, the food… so, okay, yes, it’s mostly the food. I had a serious craving for Hainanese chicken and, armed with new techniques gleaned from Anthony Bourdain’s show, I decided that Hainanese chicken was what we’d have for dinner tonight. Time to update too my 2008 Hainanese chicken recipe based on Kylie Kwong’s which, it now turns out, is not so good at all (the original entry is on page two).
Hainanese chicken rice is almost a national dish in Singapore in much the same way that kaya toast is considered its national breakfast. Every cook has his own tricks for making Hainanese chicken rice but I think that this recipe can compete with good quality restaurant fare. Delicious. The meat was soft and juicy, the rice was rich but not overpowering and the dipping sauce… well, Speedy said I didn’t make enough. He was practically spreading it over his rice. Yes, that good.
I only wish that the photo above were better. I wish even more that I were better at chopping the cooked chicken but I’ll get there. Practice, after all, makes perfect.
This entry consists of three parts: the recipe for the Hainanese chicken, the recipe for the Hainanese chicken rice and the recipe for the ginger dipping sauce.
Let’s start with the Hainanese chicken. It isn’t steamed; it’s simmered. Not in water but in stock.
Ingredients
- 8 to 12 c. of stock or broth (see tips for making homemade broth)
1 whole chicken, 1.2 to 1.5 kg
onion leaves
2 whole onions
1 whole garlic
ginger
fish sauce
Instructions
Boil the stock with onion leaves, whole onions, a whole garlic, several slices of ginger and fish sauce. When the stock is boiling, slide in the chicken, breast side down. Adding the chicken to the stock after it boils prevents scum from forming. You will use the liquid for cooking your rice later so you want it clear and free from impurities. Lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer the chicken. Then, carefully turn the chicken over and continue simmering. I had a 1.5 kg. chicken, I simmered it for 20 minutes before turning it over. Then, I simmered it for another 15 minutes. Make adjustments if your chicken is larger or smaller. The thing to remember is to NOT overcook the chicken.
When the chicken is done, place it in a bowl of iced water to tighten up the skin. Really give it an iced bath. Then. lift out, drain and cool.
To serve the chicken, you have to chop it first. Start with the appendages. Carefully cut the drumsticks, thighs and wings. Cut at the joint so that everything looks nice. Chop the drumsticks and thighs through the bones into two to three portions and place them on the sides of your serving platter.
Next, chop the carcass to separate the back from the breast. Chop the back part horizontally — through the bones — into several slices and arrange along the center of the platter.
Finally, chop the breast. Horizontally. Through the bones. As neatly as you can manage (obviously, I need more practice). Arrange on top of the chopped chicken back.
Serve the chicken with the rice and dipping sauce. You may drizzle some of the sauce on top of the chicken and serve the rest on the side. Or serve all of the sauce on the side.
Hainanese chicken rice
While cooling the chicken, cook the rice.
Ingredients
- 2 c. of rice
4 to 6 c. of broth in which the chicken was cooked
Instructions
-
Measure your rice, cook it as you ordinarily would but, instead of water, use the strained liquid in which the chicken has cooked. Never mind sauteing more garlic and ginger and cooking the rice in oil before adding the broth. If your broth is flavorful enough, i.e., you started with stock rather than water, you can skip the entire sauteing routine.
While the rice cooks, make the dipping sauce.
Dipping sauce
Ingredients
- 3 heaping tbsps. of finely grated ginger
2 heaping tbsps. of finely grated garlic
4 heaping tbsps. of finely chopped onion leaves
4 to 6 tbsps. of peanut oil
salt, to taste
Instructions
-
Just mix everything together and leave to infuse while you chop your chicken.
If you don’t have peanut oil, I just discovered a worthy substitute: soya oil with a dash of sesame seed oil.
Cooking time (duration): 1 hour and 30 minutes
Number of servings (yield): 4
Meal type: lunch
On page two, the recipe based on Kylie Kwong’s originally posted in October 2, 2008.
Pages: 1 2
I have to get a very sharp cleaver, because can’t seem to get that chicken chopped the Chinese way. I’m slightly surprised by the soy sauce in the sauce, but hey, looks delicious anyways.
I was surprised too when I first saw Kylie Kwong add soy sauce. I still like the older sauce better (in the link in the entry) but Kylie’s cooking method for the chicken is pretty good.
Hi! would like to ask if your chicken is frozen or not, because what my mom taught me the chicken should be fresh which is not supposed to be frozen for you to get the color you want.
Wow! This is one of my favorite Chinese chicken dish. Never tried cooking it though.
By the way, Ms. Connie, I’m starting up a blog and I’d like to add your blogs to my favorite’s list and friends online. hope it’s OK with you.
Fresh, Janice.
Phynkee, wow, pasilip! And syempre thanks for including me in your favorites.
hi there! can i use some other rice wine? i don’t think the local stores here in uk carry that brand
i’m looking forward to trying this dish!
It’s not exactly a brand. Shaoxing is a city and good quality Chinese rice wine is preceded by “Shaoxing” in the label to refer to the quality.
I watched this episode of Kylie Kwong and was fascinated to learn it is so easy to make. I’ve cooked it already at home and it was a hit. Have yet to post this on my blog. But this is really a must-try!
I love Hainanese Chicken.
For better flavor, use a “kampung” chicken – one that has been running around a lot. It is tougher, but tastier.
I prefer a garlic-ginger-chile sauce, but no soy in it.
Yes, best to use free ranged, grass fed chickens
It is firmer and tastier.
We tried this without the rice wine. It’s still delicious! Thanks for sharing it Ms. Connie!
Dry sherry can be a substitute to shaoxing rice wine.
In my first five days in Singapore, this Chicken Rice (Hainanese Chicken) was the first dish I managed to eat without curry. A kick-ass one.
The way you describe on how to cook the dish is exactly the way my CIC is doing it except for 40 minutes simmering time which she has found out to be too long for a Magnolia or Swift dressed chicken.
BTW, you might stumble one of these times the other way to prepare a Hainanese Chicken dish in which boiling the chicken in plain water is the procedure.
Something like you put the dressed chicken when the water starts boiling and turning off the heat when the water starts boiling again. Then wait until the water is cold. Start to heat the water again and pull out the chicken after a minute or two of the water is boiling. Then cool it by “bathing” it with running water from the faucet all over its body.
After that, I don’t know on how one would have the same appearance (and taste) as what you have in the photo.
My mother-in-law cooks this basically in the same way in her Tatung rice cooker. After letting the chicken rest, she rubs salt and pepper all over then chop into pieces. The sauce is served on the side.
Can I just use chopped chicken so I won’t have to chop it anymore after simmering it in hot broth?
Oh no. The texture won’t be the same.
Hi there. Your recipe includes salt but I could not see that in your procedure. Shall I add the salt while boiling the chicken? Thanks.
Yes.
Hi! I’m real hit-or-miss with the cleaver too! Have you tried using kitchen shears instead of chopping? Just look for the joints that make life easier – not as pretty as Kylie’s chopping, but no compound-fractured bones either!
With raw chicken, shears work. With cooked chicken, the meat gets torn.
I love hainanese rice and chicken. Never done that at home, so I think I have to refer from your recipe. Hope hubby will like it too!
i think i got lost somewhere… so was the chicken was served cold…? no more reheating after the iced water dunk?
More like room temp. The dunking took less than a minute, just to tighten up the skin.
your blog is too fine. Thanks for sharing this.
Why, thank you! And you’re a spammer so I deleted your URL.
A commenter in Marketmanila (bettyq) suggested that for the ginger sauce, pour smoking-hot oil over the grated ginger/garlic/onion leaves for that “Chinese” taste. Been doing that and it seems to work pretty well
That trick is used for garnishing steamed fish (examples here and here), as far as I know, which use larger pieces of ginger. But for a dipping sauce with grated ginger, well, hmmm…
I really really like this and would love to cook it at home. I suck at chopping a chicken though. I’ll probably serve it whole.
been a silent fan of your site. Just finished cooking it a few minutes back (around 1 AM ). yep -midnight cooking rocks. Moment of truth will be later at breakfast, when my wife comes home from work. Hope she’ll like it. More power to you Connie! — and more cooking to me.
I will be cooking this next weekend. Can you recommend a kid friendly souce that can go with it? I have a 7 & 3 yr old kids that loves chicken and soy as a dip. Thanks Connie for your recipes I’ve been recreating them every weekend and it’s always a hit!
Light soy sauce and kalamansi, perhaps?
Thank you for sharing this. I always refer to your site to look for recipes. I must say your recipes never lets me down. I always get a thumbs up sign and a kiss from my husband. I will be trying your version of Hainanese Chicken for dinner. Wish me luck!
You can do it! YOU CAN DO IT!
may i use broth cubes instead of the home made broths? if so, how much should i put? thanks! want to try this. btw.. who’s speedy? i know someone named speedy and i thought he was the only one who had that name besides speedy gonzales lol
I don’t use broth cubes and I don’t recommend them. The flavor is simply too artificial.
Speedy’s my husband.
Hi Connie, how much fish sauce did you use for the chicken? This is one of my favorite dishes in Chinese restaurants and I would like to make this at home for my family.
More power and thank you.
“To taste”, Malou.
Hi Ms. Connie, what’s a nice substitute for onion leaves? I currently don’t have it in my pantry.. Can spring onions work?
They’re the same thing.
hi connie, am cooking this now for potluck. same as I did the last two times I cooked this, I use the chicken oil I got from the soup for the ginger-garlic sauce.