Hainanese Chicken Rice
Popular and classic tender and juicy Hainanese chicken with fragrant rice. Served with hot chilli sauce, ginger and spring onion sauce plus cucumber.
- Prep time
- 1 hr
- Cook time
- 1 hr
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 1.6 kg whole free range chicken (fat trimmed)
- 15 dried Chinese red dates
- 2 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 5 long fresh red chillies (deseeded and cut into 3cm lengthwise)
- 3 small fresh red chillies (deseeded (optional))
- 3 clove garlic (peeled)
- 1 small brown onion (peeled and cut into wedges)
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp stevia
- 1 lemon (juiced)
- 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 200 g ginger (peeled and thinly sliced)
- 6 spring onions ((shallots) sliced into 2 inch lengthwise)
- 3 clove garlic (peeled)
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tsp stevia
- 1 lime (juiced)
- 11/2 cup basmati rice
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 pandan leaves ((screwpine leaves) each tied in a knot (fresh or frozen))
- 2 inch ginger (peeled, thickly sliced and bruised)
- chicken broth (from cooking the chicken)
- 3 sprigs coriander ((cilantro) including stems, roughly tear into 2 cm (0.8 inch) lengthwise)
- 3 Lebanese cucumber (peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise)
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp gluten free light soy sauce
Instructions
- 1
Put the extra virgin olive oil, red chillies, garlic and onion into the food processor and blend until you get a smooth paste. Remove from blender and put the paste into a small bowl. Then add the salt, sugar and lemon juice and mix well. Set aside. Rinse the food processor.
- 2
Combine ginger, garlic and spring onion into the food processor. Blend until you get a rough paste. Set aside 2 tablespoons for marinating the chicken. Then put the rest of the paste into heat resistant bowl.
- 3
Heat up 5 tablespoons of extra virgin oil in a frying pan and pour over the paste, add the salt, sugar and lime juice and mix well. Set aside.
- 4
Clean and wash the chicken, fat trimmed from under skin near the top and bottom of cavity. Then rub and marinade the chicken skin and cavity with 2 tablespoons of salt and 2 tablespoons of the ginger and spring onion sauce (without seasonings) set aside in step 2 above.
- 5
Fill a stock pot with half full of water and bring to a boil. Submerge the chicken into the boiling water and resume the boil and skim the surface. Add all the dried Chinese red dates. Once its boiling, turn the heat down to low, cover with lid and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- 6
Cautiously remove the chicken and place on a plate and set aside. Reserve the chicken broth for cooking the rice and to serve as complementary soup. Discard the Chinese red dates.
- 7
Wash the rice and place into the rice cooker together with the extra virgin olive oil, pandan leaves and ginger. Cook in an electric rice cooker by adding number of cups of chicken broth (from cooking the chicken) as specified by the electric cooker water level.
- 8
Cut the chicken into quarters and remove the chicken meat from the bones carefully. Next, cut the boneless chicken quarters into bite size pieces. Drizzle the dressing onto the chicken pieces and garnish with coriander.
- 9
Serve the chicken with fragrant rice, chilli sauce, ginger sauce, cucumber and remaining chicken broth garnished with coriander.