Must-Try Hainanese Chicken Rice

  4.0 – 1 reviews  • Chinese

my all-time fave dish! Don’t let the straightforward ingredients mislead you. This is the most wonderful, flavorful Chinese chicken rice dish you’ve ever had, and the secret is in the broth. Add cucumber slices, cilantro, and spring onion sprigs as garnish.

Prep Time: 40 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr 32 mins
Additional Time: 5 mins
Total Time: 2 hrs 17 mins
Servings: 4
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

  1. 1 whole chicken
  2. 1 stalk spring onion (Optional)
  3. 3 cloves garlic, crushed, or to taste
  4. 1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger root (Optional)
  5. water to cover
  6. salt to taste
  7. 5 tablespoons light soy sauce
  8. 1 ½ tablespoons white sugar, or to taste
  9. 1 tablespoon garlic oil (Optional)
  10. 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  11. 3 cups uncooked rice, or more to taste
  12. 3 cloves garlic, minced, or to taste
  13. 1 (1 inch) piece ginger, crushed (Optional)
  14. salt to taste
  15. 5 red chile peppers, seeded and chopped
  16. 2 limes, juiced
  17. 3 cloves garlic
  18. 1 (1/2 inch) piece ginger (Optional)
  19. ¼ teaspoon salt
  20. 1 pinch white sugar, or to taste
  21. 2 limes, juiced
  22. 3 cloves garlic
  23. 1 (1 inch) piece young ginger (Optional)
  24. ⅛ teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Trim chicken of all excess fat, reserving fat.
  2. Place chicken, spring onion, 3 cloves crushed garlic, and one 1-inch piece ginger in a large pot. Pour in enough water to cover. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, skimming any scum off the surface, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone, reads 165 degrees F (74 degrees C), about 1 hour.
  3. Remove chicken from the pot, reserving broth. Rub chicken with salt. Chop into pieces and arrange on a serving plate.
  4. Combine soy sauce, 3 tablespoons reserved chicken broth, 1 1/2 tablespoon sugar, garlic oil, and sesame oil in a small bowl. Drizzle over chicken pieces.
  5. Melt reserved chicken fat in a large pot over medium heat. Add rice, 3 cloves minced garlic, crushed 1-inch piece ginger, and salt; cook and stir until rice is glossy and fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.
  6. Pour enough reserved chicken broth into the pot to cover rice by half an inch. Cover; bring to a boil. Cook until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, 20 to 25 minutes. Let rice sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
  7. Combine red chile peppers, juice of 2 limes, 2 tablespoons reserved chicken broth, 3 cloves garlic, one 1/2-inch piece ginger, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 pinch sugar in a blender; blend until garlic chile dip is smooth.
  8. Combine juice of 2 limes, 2 tablespoons reserved chicken broth, 3 cloves garlic, one 1-inch piece ginger, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a blender; blend until ginger dip is smooth.
  9. Serve garlic chile and ginger dips alongside chicken and rice.
  10. You can also prepare the rice in a rice cooker in step 6.
  11. The tangy garlic and ginger dips are traditionally part of the package, but you can omit them if you like.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 1047 kcal
Carbohydrate 129 g
Cholesterol 149 mg
Dietary Fiber 3 g
Protein 60 g
Saturated Fat 8 g
Sodium 1126 mg
Sugars 9 g
Fat 30 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Kristin Richardson
A nice homemade style. Next time I will dial down the ginger for the chicken and broth, and increase it for the ginger and garlic dipping sauce.

 

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