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SubscribeThursday, August 20, 2009
Hainanese Chicken Rice
Hi there! Please welcome guest writer (and Steamy Kitchen intern) Jess from Jess’s Many Mini Adventures in Food and Farming. She’s an amazing, passionate gal who loves food as much as I do. She’s here to share her family recipe for Hainanese Chicken Rice.
-Jaden
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:
Enjoy!
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.
Ingredients:
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 oilFOR 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 saltFOR 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 tasteFOR THE TABLE
1/4 cup dark soy sauce
Few sprigs cilantro
1 cucumber, thinly sliced or cut into bite-sized chunksDirections:
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. Rinse chicken well, 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 lift and transfer the chicken into a bath of ice water to cool and discard the ginger and green onion. 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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188 Responses to “Hainanese Chicken Rice”
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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!
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!
this is so generous ! thank a lot for posting wonderful hainanese chicken. well loved by the whole family. we love you steamy kitchen
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.
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!
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!
Quite possibly the yummiest dinner I have ever made. I so wanted chicken rice again… sans the long trip. Thanks!!
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
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!
Made this last week and it turned out excellent! Making it again today. Thanks for the receipe!
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.
Thanks , best on the web !
Regads ,
David
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.
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!!
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!
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.
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?
WOW! You are my Hero! I made this and it took me right back to Okinawa and Hong Kong…Thanks
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.
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
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!
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!
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!!
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.
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!!!
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!!!
great. i was looking for a hainanese chicken rice recipe for the longest time. thank you for sharing your recipe.
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.
Anyone finds Hainan chicken in Hainan, Hainan island in China
please email karamtang@gmil.com and I will go again to taste it
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
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
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…
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.)
Jess, let me tell you, it was BLOODY delicious. Thanks a lot for this recipe.
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…
Was just watching Anthony Bourdain’s episode in Singapore and wanted to find a recipe for Hainanese chicken rice. Glad to find this! I tried your recipe for chicken pho — it was awesome — so I’m sure this will be great, too.
I stumbled upon this entry and tried out using the step-by-step instructions. Absolutely benefitted much from it! Thank you so much!
I am a fan of Hainanese Chicken Rice. I super love those tender chicken pieces, juicy and full of flavor.
I already tried cooking Hainanese Chicken Rice in my kitchen twice. The difference of my recipe is the usage of leeks and lemon grass for more aroma and flavor.
Hi! I tried the recipe and followed Mrs. Kolca’s advice to add leeks and lemon grass! Outstanding!!!!
This recipe sounds delish and Do-able! and love the salt exfoliating tip! but i’ve had hainan chicken rice at a chinese restaurant and they have this ginger/butter-like sauce? are you familiar with that sauce? i am curious how to make that sauce.
great recipe and pictures. novice friendly
Anyone has a great recipe for the green sauce served with Hainan Chicken?
Thanks so much for the detailed instructions and pictures!! I’m going to try this out on Friday and am so excited already!!!!! Is there a certain wait to cut up the chicken to serve?
SteamyKitchen replied: — October 20th, 2010 @ 3:55 pm
Hi Thu, yes, there is a specific way Chinese carve chicken, but I can’t seem to find photo tutorial online. Will have to find some time to make photograph soon.
Thanks so much for the recipe, I made it and cut it up like I was deboning a chicken then cut up the chicken breasts into portions just like your photo. Loved how simple and delicious this was.
Instead of rice, I substituted Quinoa and it tasted delicious with the chicken poaching broth.
SteamyKitchen replied: — October 23rd, 2010 @ 9:11 am
Fantastic! Love that you used quinoa for healthy version.
Thanks, that looks delicious, would love to try one day.
Thanks for your delicious and simple recipe! It was perfection. I made it last night and was surprised how easy and quick it was. I shredded the chicken because I don’t have a good cleaver. The two sauces were just amazing together. My favorite part, was there was no waste! And I threw the bones back in to make more broth for another meal.
Is the ice water bath just to cool the chicken down or does it seal in juices? I didn’t do this part…but wondered if I should have!
Thanks for posting this recipe! It was so easy to follow with your pictures. I made this for the first time for my parents last night. They LOVED it! I didn’t make the chili sauce, I decided to make “chinese pesto” (minced ginger & green onion with hot oil).
Cant wait to try other recipes on your blog!
Thank you Roana!
Hello Jess and Jaden, thank you for the great recipe! I`ve tried making it recently, but with a lot of modification. You probably won`t call it a chicken rice, lol. Do you mind if I link this page to my post? Thanks!
Jaden, what do i do with the stuffing that went into the chicken?
SteamyKitchen replied: — December 2nd, 2010 @ 4:32 pm
Discard the stuffing. Thanks for asking – recipe edited!
Jess- “this recipe is really only authentic when made with 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.”—-your Mom was absolutely right. THANKS