Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe

Hainanese chicken rice is a delicious, healthy dish that has become a national dish of Singapore, despite its routes in Ancient Chinese cooking. There are many different ways to cook the chicken, but we’ve found this simple overnight poaching to be the best. The benefit of the slow, long cooking is that the meat stays super tender while you get all the benefit of a delicious bone broth from the cooking liquid too. Just make sure when you strain the chicken that you don’t throw away all that lovely poaching water – it has the most amazing flavour and is used in some of the other elements of this Hainanese chicken rice. If you have leftovers it makes a delicious noodle soup base.

Ingredients

• 1.5kg whole free range chicken
• 1tsp sea salt
• 6 spring onions, roughly chopped
• 1 thumb-sized piece ginger, roughly chopped

For the rice

• 400g rice
• 1tsbp olive oil
• ½ thumb-sized piece ginger, grated
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed

For the chilli sauce

• 4tbsp siracha
• 4 cloves garlic
• ½ thumb-sized piece ginger
• 2 limes, juice and rind
• 2tsp sugar
• Chicken cooking liquid, as required

For the cucumber salad

• 2 cucumbers, cored and chopped
• 2 limes, juice and rind
• 2tsp sugar
• 1 bunch coriander, roughly chopped, to serve
• 1 bunch spring onions, sliced long ways, to serve

Method

1. Preheat oven to 140, Gas Mark 1.
2. Rub the chicken all over with salt, then rinse. In a pot large enough to hold the chicken, cover with water and add the spring onion and ginger. Bring the whole thing to a boil and simmer for fifteen minutes with a lid on.
3. Transfer the covered pot to the preheated oven and leave to cook for 6 hours. Remove and plunge the chicken into iced water to tighten the skin. Reserve the cooking liquid
4. For the rice heat the oil in a large pan. Fry the garlic and ginger for a minute, add the rice and stir through. Cover with 800ml of the chicken cooking liquid. Cover and leave on a low heat for 15 minutes, until cooked.
5. For the sauce blitz all the ingredients together in a food processor until smooth. If a little too thick add some cooking liquid until it reaches the desired consistency.
6. For the cucumber salad combine all the ingredients. Serve the chicken, sliced, with the rice, chilli sauce and cucumber.