Hainanese Chicken and Rice

It is nearly the end of 2012 and I have not left the country once. It is probably the first time in my life that I have not had a holiday within a year. I suppose at the moment saving up for a wedding is more important than to holiday in some winter sun. I have to keep telling myself that fact to feel less envious of my friends posting up their holiday snaps online.

Even my parents in Hong Kong are on their second holiday of the year in Singapore. I hope they have a lovely time over there, especially as the temperature over there is 31C whereas I am wrapped up indoors with an average temperature of 2C outside.

So to make myself feel a little less deprived from the luxury of warm weather I decided to make some food to remind me of somewhere warm. Since my parents are over in Singapore at the moment I decided to make their national dish of Hainanese Chicken. It made me feel a little closer to my parents, we maybe eating the same dish at the same time at opposite sides of the world.

I have never eaten this dish before, but when searching for it online it seemed very similar to the traditional Cantonese Steamed Chicken my mum often makes. The rice is traditionally cooked using the chicken stock left over from cooking the chicken, which makes the whole meal more appetising.

Hainanese Chicken is traditionally eaten with a hot chilli sauce but instead I made a hot ginger and string onion dipping sauce to accompany the dish. I put my own twist on the dish by not following the typical recipes I found (mainly because I had not done my weekly shopping yet, so had to make do with what was left in my fridge). Even though I have never tasted Hainanese Chicken my version was still very yummy. Next time I go shopping, I will buy some pandan leaves to try out the recipes more faithfully to see which version is better.

Hainanese Chicken and Rice

• 1 whole chicken
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 pieces of one-inch cube of root ginger (smash one piece and slice the other piece)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 stalks of spring onions (slice one spring onion finely and leave the other two whole)
• 2 carrots (peeled and halved)
• 1 green chilli (seeds removed and finely diced)
• 2 cups of long grain rice (washed and drained)

Wash the chicken and pat dry the inside cavity and the skin on the outside. Cut out any excess fat and reserve for use later. 

Heat up a large pot (big enough to fit the whole chicken) with enough water to cover the chicken.  

Rub the salt over the chicken skin and the inner cavity. Place 2 stalks of spring onions and two slices of ginger into the cavity.

When the water is boiled, add the carrots and one of the pieces of ginger. Carefully place the chicken into the water. Allow the water to boil again, turn the heat down slightly and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn the chicken over and turn off the heat. Cover the pot with a lid and allow it to rest in the water for another 20 minutes. 

While the chicken is sitting in the stock for the last 20 minutes, heat up a frying pan. When hot add in the reserved fat of the chicken and fry to melt the fat to become oil. When the fat pieces have started to burn remove the pieces. Add the remaining sliced ginger, garlic, sliced spring onions and chilli. Add the drained rice and stir to combine all the ingredients. Turn off the heat.

Transfer the ingredients into a rice cooker and add in two and half cups of stock. Turn on the rice cooker to cook the rice.

When the chicken has rested for the 20 minutes in the stock. Carefully lift out the chicken from the stock and place in a large bowl of iced cold water.  When cooled, chop the chicken into smaller pieces.

Serve the chicken with the rice and any choice of sauce, i.e. chilli sauce or ginger and spring onion dipping sauce.