Hainanese Chicken Claypot Rice
Hainanese chicken claypot rice is a mash-up of two classics, giving you fragrant rice, poached chicken, and that signature claypot crust.
- Prep time
- 30 min
- Cook time
- 25 min
- Yield
- 2 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 2 chicken thighs, deboned
- 1/2 cucumber, sliced
- 1 green onion, chopped (garnish)
- Excess skin cut from the chicken thighs
- 1/2 shallot, finely diced
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/2 tbsp minced ginger
- 3/4 cup jasmine rice
- 3/4 cup chicken broth (reserve 2 tbsp for the sweet dark soy sauce)
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 white pepper powder
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- sweet dark soy sauce
- ginger scallion oil
- chilli sauce
Instructions
- 1
Rinse the jasmine rice 3 times, then soak in clean water for 1 hour to soften it and speed up cooking. After soaking, drain and set the rice aside.
- 2
Trim off excess skin and fat from the chicken thighs and save it for cooking the rice.
- 3
Marinate the chicken with ingredients listed above. Make the three dipping sauces (sweet dark soy, ginger scallion oil, and chilli) — you can check out my Hainanese Chicken Rice recipe for the full dipping sauce recipe.
- 4
Heat a claypot over low-medium heat. Add the reserved chicken skin and fat and sauté for 5 minutes to render the oil.
- 5
Add shallots, garlic, and ginger, and stir-fry for a minute until fragrant.
- 6
Add the drained rice and chicken broth. Cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, lifting the lid briefly to stir once or twice so the rice doesn’t stick to the pot.
- 7
Place the marinated chicken on top of the rice. Cover the pot with a lid. Drizzle a bit of oil around the edges of the pot, then cook on low heat for 12-15 minutes. After about 10 minutes, you should start to hear a sizzling sound—this means the fat and juices are dripping down to the bottom of the pot, creating that crispy rice layer.
- 8
After 12–15 minutes, lift the lid and check that the chicken is fully cooked. Cover the pot again, drizzle a little more oil, and turn the heat up to medium. Tilt and rotate the pot so each side gets a chance to crisp, cooking for about 30 seconds per side. Then turn off the heat.
- 9
Slice the chicken, return it to the pot, and serve immediately with cucumber, green onion, and the three sauces.