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SubscribeThursday, August 20, 2009
Hainanese Chicken Rice
It’s not everyday that you get an email from a reader asking to be an intern.
A free intern.
Hell yeah!
*eyes sparkling* rubbing hands together…Will she do dishes? Laundry? Scrub the floors?
Uh…yeah…prob not. She said “intern” not “housecleaner.”
Well, okay, but STILL! Someone to go through my spam, read comments, correct my spelling, ghost comment on other blogs. SCORE!
Oh sheesh! I’m just kiddin’ ya! But I know that’s what y’all were thinking!
Seriously, having an intern is a serious commitment on my part, to me it means mentoring, sharing, supporting. It means unzipping the day-to-day details of my career and REALLY analyzing why and how because *snicker* some days the why’s are simply “just cuz” and the how’s are “staggering blindly,” which really…doesn’t…sound…too…mentor-like.
But it also means creating space in my life each week to flick the switch on Skype and talk with Jess, going through photog tips, blogging advice, how to write recipes, how to do the SEO dance and just general advice. In return, Jess will be researching, writing and photographing for my Ingredients section and post a handful of delicious recipes like this one, her family recipe for Hainanese Chicken Rice.
I think this will be a great adventure for all of us!
Jess’s blog is Jess’s Many Mini Adventures in Food and Farming. She’s an amazing, passionate gal who loves food as much as I do. Please welcome Jess to Steamy Kitchen!
-Jaden
p.s. have you ever considered asking one of your favorite veteran bloggers to intern?
Hey all,
Jess here, Steamy Kitchen’s new intern. That’s me chewing on a mango in my tiny kitchen preparing for a meal at Synergy Farm (a farm on an island!) where I intern at. I’m actually in my kitchen right now on my lunch break, looking out at the barn and the carrots in the north garden,
munching on a quesadilla with beet greens and feeling amazed all over again at how I ended up here, on a farm, writing to all of you wonderful readers!
I’ve been here since late March, just after my 24th birthday. Before that, I was living in Cambodia helping girls get an education; before Cambodia, I was working at Google, and waaaaaay back before then (well not so long ago, actually) I ran an afterschool program in the bay area. I love adventure, and I love to consider the small ways I can change the world for the better, and over the past few years, I’ve become convinced that my way of making my world better is through food.
Growing up in Orange County, California, I never thought much about where my In-N-Out Burger or spicy tuna roll came from. Every since I was 4 years old perched on a kitchen stool, stirring up Betty Crocker, I’ve always been in love with food: cooking it, eating it, playing with it. I love cooking with friends; chopping veggies gives me a high like no other; but it was only recently that I’ve become fascinated with how our food is grown, processed and distributed to us and also how it affects our health, our environment and our communities. I figured it made sense to get down in the dirt and learn more about these issues firsthand, so I became an apprentice on a small organic farm in the beautiful San Juan Islands.
So what’s all this got to do with blogging? The food blogging community has been a way for me to connect with other people who think and care about food as much as I do. I’m completely inspired by all the amazing folks out there sharing their recipes and opinions and lives. Jaden’s agreed to transmit some of her samurai skills in cooking and food writing to me so I can join in the fun.
All this food love had to come from somewhere, and I tend to attribute a lot of it to good genes. My mum’s side of the family is Singaporean and I grew up in a whirlwind of popiah, freshly baked curry puffs, and beef rendang. Though I’m open to all kinds of cuisines, I hold a special place in my heart for a good plate of chili crab or chicken satay.
When I was small my family made many trips to my grandparents’ house back in Singapore. Early in the mornings, before it got unbearably hot, my grandpa would head down to the local hawker center (a food court with lots of different stalls) to pick up breakfast. He would come back to the house with a bag full of packets wrapped in banana leaves, still hot, shiny with oil, and intensely fragrant. We’d each carefully unwrap our packet, uncover the pieces of tender, perfectly steamed chicken on top of savory rice. We’d tuck in to the fragrant ginger-garlic-chickeny heaven, topped in our favorite combinations of magical sauces and eat till we were ready to face the sticky tropical day.
These days you can still find Hainanese chicken rice in hawker centers across the island for a couple of dollars a plate, and also in high-end restaurants serving up authentic cuisine. This is what a hawker center looks like — like a mall food court, only with mee goreng and peanut soup instead of Sbarro!
It’s often called Singapore’s national dish. When I was a kid and my family would go back to visit Singapore, I had three loves: fried bananas, paratha, and chicken rice. When I was visiting family last November, it was one of the first things they took me to eat — the carcasses in the stall beckoned to me with the promise of super-fresh tender chicken — some things just don’t change.
Though it gets its name from its origins in Hainan, China, it was really when overseas Chinese brought the dish to Singapore that it got a new personality and became famous.
According to my mom, this recipe is really only authentic when made with a “kampong” chicken, which means basically, a chicken from the village: the kind that roam around in the sun and eat whatever grubs and grass and scraps of rice are available. These kinds of chickens look pretty skinny by our standards, but they have an amazing flavor that I can only describe as “extremely chickeny.”
Here on the farm, we raise the closest equivalent to a “kampong” chicken that you’ll likely find in the US — not as scrawny, but pretty much as delicious. Our chickens are organically fed and pasture-raised, which means they get to spend their days outside, hanging out in the sun, roam in the grass, pecking at greens and grubs. We raise about 120 in each batch and they take about 8 weeks to go from chick to chicken rice. As my mentor, Farmer Susan likes to say, these chickens live a really really good life and then have one really bad day. They are ridiculously good just boiled plain in a pot of water and salted slightly.
All that good care makes these chickens more pricey than your average bird and on a farmer’s salary, it’s tough to afford them, but thankfully in our chicken processing just a couple weeks ago, I was able to snag a couple of tiny 2-pounders that we wouldn’t be able to sell, that were just perfect for chicken rice.
Hello guys and gals, it’s Jaden back again – Jess gave me her recipe for Hainanese Chicken Rice and I made it to show you step by step instructions! It’s a multi-step recipe, with 4 components:
1) Chicken
2) Rice
3) Chili Dipping Sauce
oh yes, the soup too, but you don’t really have to do much other ladle into the bowls.
So, let’s start with the CHICKEN.
Hainanese Chicken
This is an organic supermarket chicken (I wish we were all as lucky as Jess to be able to have fresh chicken!) Here’s the deal about the chicken. You gotta buy the best. Because this Hainanese Chicken Rice dish is all about the pure taste of the chicken, you really want to go with organic. It’s worth the money for your health, the environment and taste buds.
When you buy a whole chicken and are cooking it skin-on, and ESPECIALLY if you’re steaming or poaching the thing, you want to make sure you get the “nasties” off.
I’m sure by looking at this photo you know what I mean. What I’m after is smooth, unblemished skin.
So I give my guy a facial.
Yes, I’m totally serious!
I exfoliate my chicken.
Wow, I can’t believe I just confessed to you that I give my chickens a spa treatment. Please don’t think I’m strange! Please tell me that you do this too!??????
Start with a small handful of kosher salt. Regular table salt is too fine to use to exfoliate. Sea salt too expensive. Just use kosher salt. Oh and even if you don’t have that loose skin on your chicken, it doesn’t mean you don’t need to exfoliate — there’s still hidden guck and yuck that is trapped in that chicken skin. TRUST ME. Your chicken will look and taste better this way.
Now RUB RUB RUB!!
Be gone wrinkles!
Be gone trapped guck!
Be gone dead skin! <- yes, I know that sounded ridiculous on so many levels.
Work those pores!
Rinse, pat dry and ta-da!!!
Glistening.
Glowing.
Soft.
Smooth.
Taut.
Chicken.
Check those lovely pores.
Season the inside and outside the chicken with salt and stuff the bird with ginger and green onions. Remember, you are not only seasoning the chicken, but also the poaching water too, so be generous with the salt. I generally double the amount of salt that I would normally use on a chicken. I’ll show you how much water we’re adding in a sec.
Put it in a big pot and fill with water to just cover by 1 inch. Note that some of the stuffing might fall out. Which is totally okay. Don’t worry.
Bring that baby to a boil and then immediately turn the heat to low to keep a simmer. You’ll begin to see some of that scum. Now hey, if we didn’t exfoliate our chicken, I bet that scum would be a lot browner. I have a handy dandy scum skimmer. If you don’t have a scum skimmer, buy one, it’s only $2!
After simmering on the lowest heat (just enough for little tiny bubbles to break surface) and your chicken reaches the correct temp (take the chicken temperature at the thickest part of the thigh that’s not touching bone, it should read 170F). This is is done!
Prepare an ice bath and immediately lift the chicken out of the pot with 2 big slotted spoons or 2 big fat spatulas.
Here’s a tip. Don’t try to grab the chicken legs to pull the chicken out. You’ll end up tearing the skin and heh, maybe even tearing the drumsticks outta the chicken which results in you standing there holding two drumsticks and the rest of the chicken plopping back into the boiling hot broth which then splashes back on your arms and face. Speaking from experience, of course.
Oh, and don’t even THINK about pouring that clean, delicious broth down the sink! We’ll be using that to cook the rice, prepare the sauce and to drink as soup! So, remember, gently lift the chicken out from under and try not to disturb its delicate (and exfoliated!) skin.
My pot of ice water wasn’t big enough, but it worked, I just turned the chicken over a few times to make sure both sides were cooled. Why are we doing this, you ask!? Ha! I thought you’d never ask. Well let me tell ya. Plunging in an ice bath stops the cooking process immediately AND tightens the skin, making it springy and firm. The quality of the chicken skin is important in this dish! It’s all about the skin texture.
See here? That’s your soup! Season with salt if necessary.
Hainanese Rice
I use Jasmine rice, or long grained rice. Of course, feel free to sub with whatever rice you want, but I prefer Jasmine white rice. I’m using 2 cups of rice. Rinse the rice grains several times in water to get rid of excess starch and other rice cling-ons. Then let the rice soak in water for 10 minutes.
Drain the rice completely, as much as possible.
Grab a pot and saute the garlic and the ginger. Mmmm…can you smell that??
Add the drained rice to the pot.
Fry the rice grains for a couple of minutes…this gives the rice SO much flavor! I like to add a bit of salt to the rice if the broth isn’t already salted.
Remember that broth? Well, pour 2 cups of this into the pot. Normally when cooking rice, I’d go with a ratio of 1 cup rice : 1.25 cups water/broth. But since we’ve already soaked the rice and the rice has absorbed some of the water, I’m going with 1:1. Bring the rice to a boil, then immediately turn the heat to low, cover tightly and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let rest (still covered! no peeking!) for 5-10 more minutes. Done.
Oh, if you have a rice cooker, even better! After sauteing the garlic, ginger, rice – just add that into your rice cooker with the broth.
Perfect rice.
Chili Sauce for Hainanese Chicken Rice
If you’re a fan of sriracha chili sauce, this will knock your socks off. Jess puts sriracha, lime, sugar, salt, couple tablespoons of that lovely chicken broth, garlic and ginger into a blender and wheeeeeee:
Voila….Jess’s Hainanese Chicken Rice
Jess’s Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe
While your chicken is cooking, it helps to prepare the ingredients for your chili sauce and rice. Both of these are usually assembled after the chicken is done because they require the chicken broth, but you can get started washing and soaking the rice, chopping the garlic and ginger before then. In this recipe, all of the poaching broth is reserved — some is used in the rice, a small amount is used in the chili sauce, and the remainder is saved to be heated and served as a simple soup to accompany the chicken.
1 whole chicken (3.5 lbs, 1.8kg), preferably organic
kosher salt
4” section of fresh ginger, in 1/4” slices
2 stalks green onions, cut into 1″ sections (both the green and white parts)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
FOR THE RICE
2 tablespoon chicken fat or 2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1” section of ginger, finely minced
2 cups long-grain uncooked rice, washed and soaked in cool water for 10 min or longer
2 cups reserved chicken poaching broth
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
FOR THE CHILI SAUCE
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoon reserved chicken poaching broth
2 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoon sriracha chili sauce
4 cloves garlic
1” ginger
a generous pinch of salt, to taste
FOR THE TABLE
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
Few sprigs cilantro
1 cucumber, thinly sliced or cut into bite-sized chunks
1. To clean the chicken, with a small handful of kosher salt, rub the chicken all over, getting rid of any loose skin and dirt. Wash and pat very dry inside and outside. Season generously with salt inside and outside. Stuff the chicken with the ginger slices and the green onion. Place the chicken in a large stockpot and fill with cold water to cover by 1 inch. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat, then immediately turn the heat to low to keep a simmer. Cook for about 30 minutes more (less if you’re using a smaller chicken). Check for doneness by sticking a chopstick into the flesh under the leg and see if the juices run clear or insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh not touching bone. It should read 170F.
2. When the chicken is cooked through, turn off the heat and remove the pot from the burner. Immediately transfer the chicken into a bath of ice water to cool. Don’t forget to reserve the poaching broth for your rice, your sauce, and the accompanying soup. The quick cooling will stop the cooking process, keeping the meat soft and tender, and giving the skin a lovely firm texture.
3. To cook the rice: Drain the rice. In a wok or sauce pan (use a medium sauce pan if you plan on cooking the rice on the stove top), heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the ginger and the garlic and fry until your kitchen smells like heaven. Be careful not to burn the aromatics! Add in your drained rice and stir to coat, cook for 2 minutes. Add the sesame oil, mix well.
To make the rice on the stove: In the same sauce pan, add 2 cups of your reserved poaching broth, add salt and bring to a boil. Immediately turn the heat down to low, cover the pot and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit (with lid still on) for 5-10 minutes more.
To cook rice in a rice cooker: Pour aromatics and rice (after frying) into your rice cooker, add 2 1/2 cups of your reserved poaching broth and salt. Follow the instructions for your model (usually this will just mean “turn it on!”)
4. While your rice is cooking, remove the chicken from the ice bath and rub the outside of the chicken with the sesame oil. Carve the chicken for serving.
5. To make the chili sauce: Blend your chili sauce ingredients in a blender until smooth and bright red.
6. To make the soup: You should have six or seven cups of the reserved poaching broth left over to serve as soup. Just before serving, heat up the soup, taste and season with salt as necessary.
Serve the chicken rice with chili sauce, dark soy sauce, cucumber slices, and a bowl of hot broth garnished with cilantro or scallions.
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101 Responses to “Hainanese Chicken Rice”
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Theodora Csabon - "Delicious. Didn't use the sauce specified but mixed a batch of ketchup…"
Robin - "I was making pad Thai and did not have tamarind so I was looking for s…"
June - "Was craving for chicken rice for a long while. We get normal chicken r…"
Kim in MD - "Hi Jaden! I just wanted to let you know that I used this cooking techn…"
Kunal Mittal - "Just made this dal last night. Have had it over a 100 times at Nirvana…"
Rachelle — 8/20/09 @ 10:37 pm
Love it! So THAT is your secret to beautiful skin. I mean … uh … chicken.
Rachelle — 8/20/09 @ 10:53 pm
OMG! Now I’m LOL remembering every food-related at-home spa treatment I’ve ever done. The funniest … I used heavy cream as a conditioner. Then I wandered around the house all day thinking, “why in the heck do I smell spoiled milk? where is it coming from?” Yeah, this was back a few years ago before we had the Inn and I was trying to be a hippy. Organic food only goes in my mouth now … and Loreal on the hair.
StuffCooksWant — 8/20/09 @ 11:13 pm
Welcome Jess! Looks and sounds amazing! Can you please come and make it for me… it looks complicated. I will try it when I have time to ponder it. Thanks for sharing!
yasmin — 8/20/09 @ 11:24 pm
jaden and jess this is great news and a fantastic post. i don’t eat meat but i can appreciate the technique and the yummyness is leaping from the photos and the description.
jaden, another great idea from you. i never thought about interning with a food-blog “great”. hmmm….
diva — 8/21/09 @ 12:14 am
awesome chicken rice! and congrats on the intern
tht’s so cool.foodblogging is serious business and work. xx
Big Boys Oven — 8/21/09 @ 12:20 am
Jaden, can you send me an intern! lol! I need help lol!
Gosh! to be frank, we did have such request but infact there is not much to be done! can you believe it! lol!
Cool to see you having great helpers!
I am still thinking what recipe I am going to write next!
Kitchen Butterfly — 8/21/09 @ 1:54 am
Now I understand why salt is so important for almost everything…like Steak Bling Bling which I just made….
Divina — 8/21/09 @ 1:56 am
This is one of my favorite things to eat. They’re just so comforting. Thanks for the step by step procedure.
Bethany (Dirty Kitchen Secrets) — 8/21/09 @ 2:32 am
Congratulations and welcome Jess! I’ve never thought of exfoliating chicken but it totally makes sense. I’ll try it out next time i have chicken.
The Little Teochew — 8/21/09 @ 7:31 am
Take it from me – a Singaporean who is half Hainanese, who *just* had chicken rice lovingly prepared by my 82 year old granny – this dish is amazing. It’s one reason why I would miss home!
Ella — 8/21/09 @ 11:58 am
Hi Jess- Thanks for this post. I lived in Singapore for almost 2 years and I loved chicken rice. Thanks for the recipe; I will for sure make it soon.
Rose — 8/21/09 @ 12:26 pm
Congrats Jess (and Jaden!) Where are you from in OC?! I’m from Irvine/Costa Mesa area. Great recipe (and funny)!
jess replied: — August 25th, 2009 @ 9:17 pm
Hey Rose! I’m from Fullerton. My grandparents live in Costa Mesa and I’m down there quite a bit when I’m home. So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Tarrant — 8/21/09 @ 1:23 pm
Exfoliate? Yikes. I can barely stand to snag some of the pinfeathers and rinse it out to begin with…I have some sort of raw chicken touching squeamishness. It looks fantastic though.
Fuji Mama — 8/21/09 @ 1:59 pm
Jess– Can I tell you how much I love you? On a trip to Singapore a couple of years ago I ate Hainanese Chicken Rice basically every single day we were there because it was SO good. I made it once after returning from the trip using an extremely involved recipe. It took so much time that I just haven’t had the oomph to convince myself to make it again. Your recipe is so much more straight forward that I cannot wait to get into the kitchen and make some! I look forward to reading your blog and hearing more about your farming internship–wow! Thanks Jaden for introducing us to Jess!
sabrina huang — 8/21/09 @ 2:12 pm
Thanks for the post. This is one of my favorite dish.
How long does the whole cooking process take? Just want to get an idea so I can plan enough time to cook.
jess replied: — August 25th, 2009 @ 9:18 pm
Hey Sabrina! It takes me about an hour and a half — I can generally save time by doing prep work while the chicken and/or rice is cooking.
Asian Food Fanatic — 8/21/09 @ 7:33 pm
Hi Jade and Jess,
Love this site. I just wanted to add a trick for the rice that adds extra flavor. While ‘prettying’ up the chicken, grab a few pieces of chicken fat (replaces the oil) to use to saute the rice. For the rice: take the chicken fat and let it render (fat becomes liquified) by cooking on a low heat for a few minutes, then add the ginger and garlic. When I was in Singapore, I noticed that my favorite hawker stall for this dish, did that. I make this all the time and it is one of my favorite dishes.
PS -I recently used your beef pho recipe and it turned out great -thanks so much!
jess replied: — August 25th, 2009 @ 9:20 pm
Totally! I use rendered fat in my chicken rice too — one hen here on the farm gives nearly a pint of amazing golden fat which I keep in the freezer for use in all kinds of things. We figured the recipe was already getting pretty complicated and most folks aren’t so used to rendering, so we left it out…
chef gui — 8/21/09 @ 10:07 pm
i want an intern too!
welcome to Jess. you are very lucky to work with Jaden. she’s talented and fun, and her skills and demeanor are so communicative.
jess replied: — August 25th, 2009 @ 9:22 pm
I know! I’m already learning tons and tons. It’s really fascinating to get a glimpse behind the scenes. Jaden puts so much work and thought into Steamy AND she seems to be able to have fun doing it. An amazing example
Asianmommy — 8/21/09 @ 10:11 pm
Welcome to Jess. What a great recipe. Can’t wait to try it.
pigpigscorner — 8/22/09 @ 8:05 am
A great intern you have there! Great recipe and tips!
BeansandBroccoli — 8/22/09 @ 9:59 am
I am SO going to try this soon. My Thai mother in law makes the best boiled chicken ever; I have no idea why, but it just is. No I will try Jess’ recipe, and see if I can win my mother in law over. I am enthralled by the simple but “duh?!” idea of frying up the rice a bit with the ginger/garlic before cooking. Now why didn’t *I* think of that? I love your website! Welcome Jess!
mvmaithai — 8/22/09 @ 10:05 am
Jess is a great writer! And a neighbor of my old hometown of Malaysia. I look forward to some good old home cooking. I make Hainanese Chicken all the time, but never knew about using the salt to clean it. Thanks for the tip.
By the way, I made your tapioca pearls with cantaloupe few weeks ago. It was a great success!
jess replied: — August 25th, 2009 @ 9:24 pm
Thanks so much — my parents will be glad to hear that the money they put towards my degree in English was wisely invested!
John — 8/22/09 @ 10:18 am
Jaden, Thank you so much for Jess’ recipe. I was absolutely lucky enough to spend 3 1/2 months in Singapore in the late 80′s. Ah, Newton Circus, Satay Club, DimSum houses. And the STRANGEST tradition we found was very hotel in the city had their own fancy/special way of doing Irish Coffee. I kid you not…
julie — 8/22/09 @ 4:13 pm
Thank you for this recipe. My husband is Singaporean and when he misses home, he asks me to make chicken rice. Your recipe sounds great, and I am intrigued by your chili paste. I normally have to seek out hot chilis and try to pulverize them without getting anything on my skin or in my eyes. Not easy. We always have sriracha, so I can make it easily.
The Cooking Bride — 8/22/09 @ 6:01 pm
Jaden, I’ve been following your blog for a few weeks now and just read your bio. I just want to say I totally want to be you someday! I am also writing a cookbook and started my blog in hopes of recruiting a few fans so that someone other than my parents will buy my book. So far I have enjoyed food blogging immensely. Good luck with your book!
q ma — 8/23/09 @ 9:39 am
I love the photos taken during preparation. Lovely writing style.
Jodi — 8/23/09 @ 10:52 am
i made this last night and it was awesome!! that rice…the limey delicious hot sauce, the AMAZING stock leftover…ay. thank you! and i just love the tip about scrubbing down your chicken with salt, just fantastic!
biochem cooker — 8/23/09 @ 1:43 pm
Last summer I went to Singapore to eat my heart out. I fell for the chicken rice at the Maxwell food center and I keep thinking about giving it a try here at home. But the best part about the things I had in Singapore was the chili sauces on the sides of everything. I’ve been trying to reproduce them and I’m going to give your recipe a try.
jess replied: — August 25th, 2009 @ 9:25 pm
Mmmm… Maxwell’s a good one. There’s an amazing goreng pisang shop there too (fried bananas). My cousin bought me a whole bag for myself last time I was there. YUM.
Jenn — 8/23/09 @ 8:35 pm
I made this tonight for Sunday dinner. My husband devoured the rice I didn’t finish, and I got myself a second bowl of the soup — it was totally amazing, and with only the two of us, we’ll have amazing, fragrant chicken leftovers all week!
I’ll post a picture on my blog tomorrow, with a linky to you, Jaden and Jess.
joey — 8/23/09 @ 10:03 pm
Hi Jess!
Great post and delicious looking Hainanese checken rice! Love the idea of exfoliating the chicken 
chunky — 8/23/09 @ 10:33 pm
steamy, you know i love you, but now i love you more for sharing this step-by-step hainanese chicken rice recipe. i am forever looking for a recipe i can trust, and if you have tried it, i am all for it. of course, thanks to jess too…am envious…wanted to be your intern too *sigh*.
Jazry — 8/25/09 @ 3:12 am
hi Jess, love your post on the Hainanese Chicken Rice.
Just a note here, you mentioned that your 3 must-have food when you are in Singapore are “fried bananas, paratha, and chicken rice” – do you mean prata? The indian fried crispy pancake?
Hainanese Chicken Rice still costs SGD2 at some hawker centres. Some stalls nowadays, apart from the chilli, has 2 other sauces – dark soy sauce to drip over the chicken rice, and a ginger/garlic/oil blended puree kind of sauce for the chicken dip.
p.s I’m a singaporean who stumbled into this food blog today.
jess replied: — August 25th, 2009 @ 9:27 pm
Yes! Paratha = prata. Different spelling, same delicious stuff. I ate tissue paratha or kaya toast almost every morning for breakfast when I was back there last. Yum yum yum.
tae replied: — August 27th, 2009 @ 3:49 am
hi
i am from Thailand, and i am looking for “how to cook hainan chicken rice” then i found this web site…. the page is so cool, i can easily learn by the pictures.
But i still have a question on the last stage? how to make the dark sauce that goes over the top before serve?
thank you
Emi — 8/25/09 @ 1:01 pm
This reminds me how you make cold ginger chicken…..yummmy
katiek @kitchensidecar — 8/25/09 @ 8:32 pm
holy hell… triple star bookmark!
jess — 8/25/09 @ 9:16 pm
Woohoo! Just figured out how to respond to comments. It’s a learning process. Very glad you enjoyed the recipe!
tae — 8/27/09 @ 3:49 am
hi
i am from Thailand, and i am looking for “how to cook hainan chicken rice” then i found this web site…. the page is so cool, i can easily learn by the pictures.
But i still have a question on the last stage? how to make the dark sauce that goes over the top before serve??
thank you
jess replied: — August 27th, 2009 @ 10:57 am
Hey Tae! The dark sauce is dark soy sauce (the slightly sweet, thick kind). I’m sure you can buy it in your local market. I think you call it siew dohm in Thai if I remember right from my short time in Chiang Mai?
nastassia — 8/27/09 @ 7:35 am
thanks for the recipe, it was very easy to cook and it came out delicious.
SteamyKitchen replied: — August 28th, 2009 @ 7:43 am
Great! It is easy to cook. Wonder if I can make a crockpot version….
suzy — 8/28/09 @ 4:02 am
yum! we eat lots of “chicken rice” in thailand but i never thought it was something i could make at home. great recipe. and welcome jess!
SteamyKitchen replied: — August 28th, 2009 @ 7:41 am
Would love to learn Thai version of Chicken Rice
Pat Tanumihardja — 8/28/09 @ 1:40 pm
Welcome, Jess! You’re very lucky to be working with Jaden. She is amazing and a kind, generous person too. I grew up in Singapore and now live in CA and chicken rice was one of my staples at the hawker center. My favorite was the soy sauce chicken though. Now that was yummy!
jess replied: — August 28th, 2009 @ 3:03 pm
I know! I feel super lucky to be learning from such a pro and someone who’s so open and willing to share her secrets.
I also LOVE soy chicken. We used to buy 3 or 4 whole ones from the 99 Ranch Market for a picnic on the weekends with my huge family: 17 of us awesome cousins + aunties and uncles!
Pat Tanumihardja — 8/28/09 @ 1:42 pm
Hi Jess,
Welcome! You are so lucky to be working with Jaden. She’s amazing and a kind, generous person too! I grew up in Singapore and now live in CA. Chicken rice was definitely a favorite growing up. But I’m partial to the soy sauce chicken version. Now that was yummy!
zenchef — 8/28/09 @ 8:08 pm
Oh my gosh, did you take the picture of the chicken heads in Maxwell food court in singapore? I was there just 2 months ago and i can totally remember that horrific thing of beauty. Loved the Hainanese chicken rice there.. and the oyster cakes. Yum!
jess replied: — August 28th, 2009 @ 8:20 pm
Haha, yeah I took it back in November of last year when I was out there visiting family. Really puts me in the mood for food!
Sharon — 8/30/09 @ 9:35 pm
hey *waves* Singaporean here..haha !Its still really hot here and chicken rice is still well loved !off topic but..er spread the love<:
Julia — 9/1/09 @ 9:09 am
Just wanted to say, my pregnancy has really tripled my cravings for Singaporean food. Thank you for such an easy to follow recipe. I gobbled down 2 bowls of rice and 2 bowls of soup all by myself.
Thank you for making a pregnant lady very, very, very happy!!!
shimarella replied: — September 1st, 2009 @ 12:35 pm
Erm the pregnant lady comment is not mine :0 Your blog is ediing our posts in a funny way
Thanks for the inspiring photos & recipes, from a homesick Singaporean. I love chicken rice. Made this yesterday with brown jasmine rice and leg quarters. Do you reheat the leftover chicken or eat it cold?
shimarella — 9/1/09 @ 12:33 pm
Nice photos and recipe for my most favourite recipe from home ever. I swear I eat it everyday when I go back to Singapore. I got such a craving reading this page that I made this yesterday, albeit with brown jasmine rice and leg quarters rather than a whole chicken.
How do you recommend eating the leftover chicken? Cold? OR do you warm it up slightly? I’m already looking forward to lunch
Simon Food Favourties — 9/6/09 @ 12:38 am
looks so yummy and moist and tender. i’ve been trying to find a good one around Sydney.
Alice — 9/6/09 @ 10:34 pm
Thanks for the recipe, I am far away from home and staying in latin America for a long period. Wont be able to eat good Asian home made food. As all the ingedients I will be able to find here.. I will try to cook Hainanese Chicken with the help of this recipe. Thank you Jess, because everything is so clear, and I had to laugh at that part of the Chicken drumsticks..As I am imagining myself doing the same thing.. hahaha…
Jaded — 9/10/09 @ 10:38 pm
Hey Jaden! I just tried this recipe out tonight. Super yum! You’re recipe broke it down so it was easy to follow. Thanks to you and Jess for this post
Sherly — 9/25/09 @ 11:38 pm
For me Jasmine Long Grain rice is a must when cooking Hainamese Chicken Rice, I use 1 : 1,5 ratio for rice and chicken stock and it come out beautiful, and I use pandan leaves in the rice too, it really make a difference
Another thing, normally they prepare soy sauce + Chicken Stock + sesame oil mixture to pour on top of the chicken.
Roxanne — 10/1/09 @ 2:06 pm
I’m SO excited to have stumbled across this recipe!! I lived in Singapore for ~5 months last year and Chicken Rice was a staple. I think I probably had it 2-3 times a week. Thank you for sharing! I cannot wait to try this recipe.
DR Yew — 10/5/09 @ 10:21 pm
Great chicken rice recipe!
I’m from Malaysia and seems that we have some difference in the way this is prepared. At home, normally we steam the chicken, not poach it. But I can’t wait to try this out to check out the difference in texture & taste
In addition to ginger & garlic, we also use lemon grass & a knot of pandan leaves in the rice which impart another dimension of aroma & taste to the rice.”
KY — 10/17/09 @ 4:49 pm
Hi,
I’ve read recipes by others and most of them use the ‘dunking’ (the chicken is lifted out of the water and put in again a few times) method which I think is rather troublesome! Your method is super easy by comparison and doesn’t make cooking hainanese chicken intimidating at all, well, except for the lifting of the chicken out at the end. I can imagine it slipping out of my spatulas and dropping in again with a splash!
Do you think you’ll be able to give a tutorial on how to carve the chicken for serving too?
Thanks!
John R — 10/18/09 @ 9:03 pm
Oh My God! My wife and I just finished this Hainanese Chicken it was so good, my wife kept saying, “It’s a keeper!” between bites. The only thing we didn’t have was the cucumber slices which would have been an added bonus to balance out the hot of this dish. The rice came out perfect and the house does smell like heaven. But the coolest thing is going to be the morphed soup that we’ll have tomorrow night from this dish of combined leftovers. We just added the leftover chicken and rice right into the stock and we’ll use the leftover chili sauce as a condiment as well.
I want to give you a very special thank you because I have been looking for this recipe ever since I saw a episode of “NO RESERVATIONS” with A. Bourdain where he consumes a dish that her referred to as (memory lapse here) Shanghai Chicken or Singapore Chicken. Whatever the name, the cooking style and condiments look almost identical yet this was the first place that I have ever been able to find it. Thank you again!
noodlefever — 11/12/09 @ 4:26 pm
omg, the scum skimmer advice = *best* purchase EVER. making broth is such a breeze now. i tried to tell my mom (who taught me how to make broth) about the scum skimmer, certain her life would also be transformed by this device and she just said, “oh, yeah…i own three of those.” thanks a lot for holding out on me, MOM. anyway, thank you for the tip!
acoustic pot — 1/20/10 @ 2:07 am
this is so generous ! thank a lot for posting wonderful hainanese chicken. well loved by the whole family. we love you steamy kitchen
Sudeshna — 1/20/10 @ 4:22 am
First time in here, and am absolutely in love with your site. The preparation looks so awesome, I’ll definitely try this one. Though may be I’ll get the chicken cut into pieces from the shop. I’m a little uncomfortable seeing a whole chicken on my kitchen table.
Christine — 1/24/10 @ 4:10 pm
Just found this site and made this dish – it was wonderful! Here in the UK we have free-range chickens that are fed on corn, producing a very flavourful bird with an orange-ish skin. They are a wee bit pricey, but this recipe lets all that flavour come through. Thank you!
Chaitali — 1/25/10 @ 12:00 am
I just made this today and it is delicious!
The chili sauce is spot on…exactly the kind I had in Singapore.
SteamyKitchen replied: — January 25th, 2010 @ 12:01 am
Thank you so much!
Samantha — 1/28/10 @ 10:49 pm
Quite possibly the yummiest dinner I have ever made. I so wanted chicken rice again… sans the long trip. Thanks!!
Leslie — 1/28/10 @ 11:56 pm
As ex-pats in Singapore in the mid 90′s we were hooked on this. I have been looking for a good recipe for ages. It looks so plain but as anyone who has ever eaten it knows – it is just heaven on a plate! It is addictive. Trust me. Thanks Jess & Jaden
Fred — 2/11/10 @ 3:00 am
I had browsed through a few recipes for Hainanese chicken rice but I found yours to be the simplest and the easiest to follow. It doesn’t hurt that the finished product tasted great too!
thanks for putting this online!
Mike — 2/17/10 @ 3:29 pm
Made this last week and it turned out excellent! Making it again today. Thanks for the receipe!
Felicia — 2/20/10 @ 12:50 am
Hi there!
Studied in Singapore for a few years and just finished uni here in LA. A friend cooked Hainanese chicken rice a couple of nights ago using the Prima Taste packet and while it tasted good I’m a purist at heart. I think that it’s cheating if you don’t make it from scratch. Thanks so much for the recipe! I’ll try it in a couple of nights once I get my hands on a nice chicken. It’s so sad that I don’t think that I’ll be able to get my hands on an authentic, delicious kampong chicken here.
David — 2/28/10 @ 5:01 pm
Thanks , best on the web !
Regads ,
David
Bella — 3/14/10 @ 12:18 pm
I have just finished reading this post (both the host and interns contributions) and am absolutely enthralled!! What can I say? I have a chicken in the fridge, ready to go… the only thing I am missing is the green onion, so for today only I might substitute with brown.
Having eaten Hainese chicken rice all over Malaysia/ Singapore, as well as in the homes of various friends, I have always wanted to have a go at making it myself. However I cannot resist but make a few modificiations – just to suit myself – namely, I am going to take the drumsticks and wings off the chicken before I poach it. I figure that these are better used for something else anyway, as the lovely meat comes mostly from the breast and upper thigh. Also I don’t think my big pot is quite big enough for the bird as is!
I’m salivating at the thought. I’ve also already used up the extra soup/stock several times in my head already! lol.
Keep up the great work guys.
Bella.
Anna — 3/23/10 @ 4:18 pm
The chicken came out phenonmenal!!! The rice is missing something but very close to hainanese chicken rice.. i’ll have to test it out and see what’s missing.
Thank you very much for sharing this recipe!!
Elaine from Cookware Help — 3/24/10 @ 8:36 am
I have been thinking about making this for a while and after seeing this post, my craving for it soared! This is a dish that I have long missed. Your version is the simplest that I’ve seen and looks delish!
Kat — 4/1/10 @ 3:26 pm
This recipe is so easy to follow, and I haven’t even made the dish yet. I can imagine the taste in my mouth!!!
Thanks for posting this, and thanks to Jess for suggesting.
thea — 4/16/10 @ 4:36 pm
hope your cooking show comes through jaden! thanks u jess too for sharing the recipe to steamy kitchen. i wonder if this hainanese chicken is the same at the steamed white chicken recipe, that is served cold and is crusted in clear gelatiny substance from fat?
Amanda Stenson — 4/17/10 @ 10:32 am
WOW! You are my Hero! I made this and it took me right back to Okinawa and Hong Kong…Thanks
Jane — 4/26/10 @ 6:03 pm
I’m in love with this dish mainly because the recipe is so easy to follow. I’m no the best cook in the work but this looks easy even for me.
Lava Kumar — 4/30/10 @ 9:25 am
Once i tried this food in Melaka.So it eagers me to know thae ecipie.Than i saw your web & print down the recipie.So I’ll ask my mom to make me the food.Thanks for the recipie.T/C
Guekie — 5/9/10 @ 10:28 am
Hmm…chanced upon your incredible website when I was looking up chilli sauce recipe for chicken rice, and was fascinated by your account of how to cook the dish. Sounds most authentic, mouth-watering and simple! Haven’t heard or seen sriracha chili sauce yet though-where can I get it in Singapore? Thanks so much for sharing all you know about this dish, and the tip on the scum skimmer is just great!
Carol Kay — 5/19/10 @ 11:05 pm
I LOVE THE WAY HOW YOU GUIDE US STEP BY STEP TO MAKE THIS WONDERFUL RICE! YOU ARE AMAZING. .! AND SO IS YOUR CHICKEN RICE!
joey — 5/27/10 @ 8:18 am
its so amazing..the recipe done so detailed and likable..u make me convinced to try this one..hope it turnm good as what i have tasted before in hawkers..thanks and keep this kind of post..its so convincing and delightful.thanks..keep it up!!
Phil — 6/5/10 @ 5:11 pm
Great Chicken Rice, I have been to Singers and I must say this recipe is better than any I had in Singapore, my ex was from Malaysia and if I had found this recipe before I found her I would have married it. Keep up the good work both of you.
Pam — 6/14/10 @ 9:25 pm
I made this tonight and it was absolutely awesome. My kitchen was indeed steamy even with the central air on — and we have had tornadoes all around us tonight (we live in Indiana). I am Chinese and 1/4th Thai and saw the No Reservations episode where Anthony Bourdain was lauding the Hainese Chicken at a food court in Singapore. I even taped it and tried to recreate it. It looked amazingly like the Cantonese style boiled chicken my mother used to make — it was a summertime dish (I grew up outside of Phoenix but my family was originally from SF/Sebastapol) and we dipped the cold chicken in oyster sauce and then in a green onion/chopped garlic (LOTS)/peanut oil/salt/cilantro relish. I adored your rice — it reminds me so much of my childhood as well as when DH and I were in Chaing Mai. My Irish DH loved this recipe and especially the chili sauce. He took me to Beijing for our 25th anniversary and subsequently to Thailand twice. After growing up on Irish cooking — garlic powder is considered ‘exotic’ — he is quite adventuresome and loves Chinese and Thai food as much as I do. And so do our 5 kids! I could just eat the rice! In fact, I got the crispy rice at the bottom of the pot — we called it “fan ju” — not sure of the exact spelling. Divine! Thank you so much for sharing this!!!
Gwen — 6/15/10 @ 9:18 am
Hi
Thank you so much for the info!
Me and my hubby love the hainanese chicken rice and i really want to make this at home, we can only eat this when we were going to Singapore and Hongkong,but now finally i can make the hainanese chicken rice at home!I just found this site so thanks alot i will try to make now when my hubby coming back from overseas,im sure he will love me more!!!
suzanne — 6/20/10 @ 10:21 pm
great. i was looking for a hainanese chicken rice recipe for the longest time. thank you for sharing your recipe.
Karam Sing Tang — 6/30/10 @ 6:27 am
FYI
there is no such thing as Hainan Chicken.
I went to Hainan one year ago and stay in Sanya for a week
trying to find Hainan Chicken, there is no such thing.
Anybody cares to comment on this.
Just like Sing Chou chow mei, in Hong Kong or any other Chinatown in North America or London, (singapore fried bee hun)
there is no such dish in Singapore, Believe me.
This is a South East Asia Concoction.
If anyone do find Hainan Chicken in Hainan , please email
me and I will go again to taste, so called the home of
Hianan Chicken, the orgin of such dish.
Cheers,
Karam
SteamyKitchen replied: — June 30th, 2010 @ 8:52 am
Study food history a bit and you’ll find that Hainanese Chicken originated in Hainan, and through travels, it became a popular dish in Singapore. You’ll find it all over as authentic street food in Singapore. I’m sure you’ll find Chicken Rice in Hainan, my mom is from that region and she’s had it all her life.
Karam Sing Tang — 6/30/10 @ 6:29 am
Anyone finds Hainan chicken in Hainan, Hainan island in China
please email karamtang@gmil.com and I will go again to taste it
Karam Sing Tang — 7/1/10 @ 9:03 am
I am an electronic engineer by profession. I like to experiment with food. I am from Canada and many years ago, I brought my wife to Singapore and we had Hainan Chicken rice.
She loved it.
Upon return to Canada and I told her, is that the kind of taste you like.
Then I concoctede my own version of “Hainan Chicken” without knowing at all how the chicken is cooked, no recipe, no nothing. No steamy wok, no cold water. Just off the cuff, just off my head.
Then several years later and we went to Singapore to have Hainan Chicken again. She said, she prefers my version.
She said mine has both taste and texture.
One day I hope to open one Hainan Chicken Rice Restaurant in Singapore, the second home of Hainan Chicken and Rice.
Best Wishes.
Karam
Karam Sing Tang — 7/1/10 @ 5:47 pm
what I meant by my comment is that I travelled from Haikou (the north tip of the island – the provincial capital) right down to Sanya (the southern tip of the island) where the Miss Universe Pagent once held, I tried to look for a eatery shop with the Chinese characters ( Hai Nan Ji Huan”, I did not find one.
So if any of you did find it and please let me know, I will be on my next plane back to see for myself. I will extremely delighted if someone finds it for me.
Cheers,
Karam
marie — 8/4/10 @ 4:53 pm
this recipe was the closest to the chicken rice i had in singapore; thank you!
i’ve tried it twice, once with organic chicken and the other with tyson chicken. the flavor was the best with the organic chicken. now if only you could post a tutorial on how to cut up the chicken…
Maria — 8/11/10 @ 10:43 pm
I just made this recipe and you’re right, it was extremely simple and easy!
Just wanna say THANKS!
(I am in HK so it’s a bit ridiculous I should be making it when it’s in most restaurants but it definitely tastes better when made at home with an organic chicken.)
Murali — 8/17/10 @ 7:55 am
Jess, let me tell you, it was BLOODY delicious. Thanks a lot for this recipe.
June — 9/5/10 @ 4:58 pm
Was craving for chicken rice for a long while. We get normal chicken rice as well as Hainanese Chicken Rice back home in Malaysia. Now living in London, one can’t find chicken rice easily. I tried this and it’s SUPERLICIOUS! Thank you for sharing. And I shall improve on the chicken facial too the next time
hahaha…