Hainanese Chicken Rice

Over the last while I have come across several posts for Hainanese chicken rice which have sounded really good. Hainanese chicken rice is a Chinese dish that consists of a poached chicken along with rice that is cooked in chicken broth. Chicken rice is commonly served with a chili sauce and other condiments to dip the chicken into. Every time I come across chicken rice I have heard nothing but good things about it and it seems that it is very popular in several Asian countries including Singapore where it is considered a national dish. I liked the simplicity of the dish and I was looking forward to trying a poached chicken as opposed to a roasted chicken which I am more familiar with.

The Hainanese chicken rice was pretty straight forward to make though it did take a bit of time. First you poach the chicken and only then can you make the rice using the liquid that the chicken was cooked in. You have to wait for the chicken to cool so that you can strip the meat from it so that you can use the bones to make the simple chicken soup. I liked that this meal used so much of the chicken all the way down to the bones and the water that the chicken was cooked in. The Hainanese chicken rice turned out pretty well! The chicken was nice and moist and tender and good. I served it with the chili sauce and some ginger sauce and some cucumbers and tomatoes. The cucumbers and tomatoes were a nice cool relief from the heat of the chili sauce. The rice that was made in the chicken broth was nice and creamy and flavourful and it also provided some relief from the chili heat. Overall it was a really tasty and filling meal.

Hainanese Chicken

Ingredients:
1 chicken
7 cloves garlic
5 slices ginger
1 teaspoon salt
water
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
3 cloves garlic (chopped)

Directions:
1. Stuff the garlic and ginger into the chicken.
2. Place the chicken into a large pot and cover with water.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Plunge the chicken into ice water until no longer hot, about 15 minutes. (Retain the water that the chicken was cooked in.)
5. Mix the sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar and garlic and brush onto the chicken.
6. Cut the chicken into pieces.

Chicken Rice

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon oil
2 cloves garlic (peeled and smashed)
4 slices ginger
1 cup long grained rice
2 cups broth from cooking chicken

Directions:
1. Heat the oil in a pan.
2. Add the garlic and ginger and saute until fragrant.
3. Add the rice and broth and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.

Chicken Soup

Ingredients:
all but 2 tablespoons the remaining chicken broth
the bones from the chicken
lettuce or cabbage
green onions

Directions:
1. Simmer the bones in the broth for an hour.
2. Strain the solids from the broth.
3. Serve with lettuce.

Chicken Rice Chili Sauce

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons chili sauce
1 inch ginger
4 cloves garlic
1 lime (juice)
2 tablespoons of chicken broth

Directions:
1. Puree everything in a food processor.

Ginger Sauce

Ingredients:
ginger
sesame oil
salt

Directions:
1. Puree the ginger and season with sesame oil and salt.