Hainanese Chicken is a dish that I often ask my mom to make whenever she is visiting from New York.
It’s also a dish I seek out when I go to an Asian food court.
Despite its simple ingredients, there’s something luxurious about the dish when it all comes together.
What is Hainanese Chicken?
Hainanese Chicken is a poached chicken served with seasoned rice, dipping sauces, and cucumbers.
Where did Hainanese Chicken get its name?
Hainanese Chicken gets its name from its origins in the Hainan province in southern China. It is believed that this dish was adapted from the Hainanese dish Wenchang Chicken.
However, this is a widely popular dish in Southeast Asia. Countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia often eat varieties of Hainanese Chicken.
What equipment will I need to make Hainanese Chicken?
You will need a large pot, a wok, a rice cooker and a large bowl for the ice bath. If you’d like, you can also use a food processor to chop your garlic cloves, but that is completely optional.
How do you make Hainanese Chicken?
The first step to making Hainanese Chicken is to wash and exfoliate your chicken with Kosher salt.
Normally, I am against washing your chicken. This is because washing your chicken in the sink can increase the spread of bacteria from the chicken juices onto other surfaces of your home.
However, this step is necessary to get a nice shine to your chicken once it’s done cooking.
After exfoliating the chicken, rinse off the excess salt and stuff the cavity with ginger and scallion. Submerge the chicken carefully into a big pot of boiling water, breast side up.
Let the chicken cook for about 30-45 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Skim off any chicken fat that may float to the top of your stock and discard.
Remove the chicken from stock, making sure to reserve the liquid for your rice. Immediately submerge your chicken into an ice bath to stop the cooking process.
Let the chicken soak for about 15 minutes.
Once your chicken has cooled, carve and serve with cucumber slices. Personally, I like to remove the chicken skin and squeeze a little bit of lime juice on top, but you can do whatever you’d like!
How do you make the seasoned rice?
While your chicken is cooling off, prepare your rice. Start by washing your rice and draining all the water.
In a large wok on medium-high heat, heat the sesame oil, garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add the washed rice and cook for about 5 minutes.
Transfer your rice to a rice cooker and add the stock from the poached chicken. Cook until your rice is fluffy and fragrant.
How do you make the dipping sauces?
For the chili dipping sauce, combine garlic, Sriracha, chicken stock, sesame oil, and sugar. If you want a spicier sauce, you can always add more Sriracha.
For the soy dipping sauce, combine soy sauce, garlic, chicken stock, sesame oil, sugar and a pinch of salt. If you want a sweeter dipping sauce, you can always add more sugar.
Hainanese Chicken With Rice Recipe
Ingredients
For The Chicken
- 1 whole chicken
- 1/2 piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into thick chunks
- 2 stalks scallion or green onion, sliced into thirds
- Kosher salt, to exfoliate the chicken
- Water, to submerge the chicken
- Ice, for the ice bath
For The Rice
- 2 cups rice
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 piece ginger, minced
- 4 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp salt
- 4 cups chicken stock
For The Chili Sauce
- 1 tbsp Sriracha
- 1/2 tsp garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup chicken stock
For The Soy Sauce
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup chicken stock
Instructions
For The Chicken
- Boil a large stock pot of water. Make sure there is enough water to fully cover the chicken.
- While the water is boiling, rub the chicken with kosher salt for a few minutes, removing any yellow bits.
- Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the ginger and the scallions.
- Let boil for approximately 30-45 minutes on medium heat or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 165 degrees.
- Remove chicken from water and put it into an ice bath for 15 minutes or until chicken has cooled. Reserve the poaching liquid for rice. If you’re just making the chicken, you can always reserve the liquid for next time.
For The Rice
- Wash your rice and drain out all the water.
- Heat wok with sesame oil.
- Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant. Stir in the uncooked rice and cook for about five minutes.
- Transfer rice to rice cooker and add 4 cups of chicken stock from the boiled chicken.
For The Sauces
- Add all ingredients together and mix well
Conclusion
I hope you give this Hainanese chicken rice recipe a try! You won’t be disappointed!
If you liked this authentic Chinese dish, you may want to try some of my other Asian recipes. My Authentic Chinese Braised Beef Shank is chock full of nutrition and Baked Salmon is an easy recipe that your whole family will love!
NOW I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Did you grow up eating Hainanese Chicken? If so, is there anything different your culture does to this great dish?
If not, does your culture have a similar dish? I’d love to learn about it so let me know in the comments below!
