My best friend loves
it when ever I make my version of Hainanese chicken rice, since he never tasted
the famous “Real” Hainanese chicken rice from Singapore, so my version to him
will be the “original “.
Once upon a time
far far away in Singapore, there were many people working as Coolies from Hainan and
to save money they put money together to buy a chicken, cooked and chopped
up into pieces, cooked rice into a sushi like rice wrap, so they can all share a good meal.
Many years later some
of them have became hawkers and then became shops. Of course, the way they prepare also has improved
and became more delicate. Until today this rice dish is the representative of
Singapore national food.
There are a
couple of famous chicken rice shop in Singapore such as: Wee Nam Kee and Tian Tian. I know I can
never compared to them but let’s try my recipe to see if you like it.
Hainanese chicken
rice
Ingredients:
2kg whole chicken or 6 to 10 pieces of boneless
chicken legs, take more if you like
Salt
Water
Ginger, get a few of them if you love
ginger
Cucumber, sliced
Light soy sauce
Sesame oil
Coriander
Chicken Stock
For the rice
Minced garlic
Chicken fat and stock
2 pandan leaves
To make the chicken
Rub chicken
inside with 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
Heat up a large
pot of water with chicken stock - big enough to put a whole chicken in or -
I like to use
boneless chicken leg, put in as many pieces as you want, but if you use chicken
leg then you will need a Colander to allow
liquid to drain through.
Add a spoonful of
salt in the water and a piece of ginger when it boiled; how much salt depends on how big is the pot and your taste, you can adjust yourself, just
remember you want it tasty but not salty.
Now when the water is boiled, put the chicken into the boiled water for 20 seconds and pick it up and put the chicken into ice water for another 10 seconds then put it back into the boiled water again, repeat this process for 5 times .
Check the skin and see if its tighten, if so then boil the water again, put
the chicken back in, close the lid and turn the heat to low for about 5 minutes,
then turn off the heat and let the chicken stay in the pot for at least 40
minutes to an hour. This steps is to cook the chicken with the heat in the pot
but not boiling the chicken. If you are using chicken leg do this step for 25mins. Again its really depends on your experience and the size of
the chicken.
After this step you can take the chicken out [to make sure the chicken
is cooked poke a chopstick into the chicken and if it went thru and no blood
coming out then it should be ok].
Finally take
the cooked chicken out, rub some sesame oil around the chicken skin, let it air
dry for about 3 mins, then put it back in the cold water for other 5 mins, take it out again and air dry. This
way is to make the skin taste better. Some people put the chicken in the
fridge but I feel this way will ruin the taste and the texture of the chicken. Chop up the
chicken into pieces and serve.
For the rice
Now you take out
the layer of chicken fat on the stock surface with a spoon . Don’t worry if
some chicken stock is with it. Fry rice ingredient together with rice and
chicken fat, until you smell the fragrance of the rice then put more chicken
stock and put the fried rice into a rice cooker .. or pot and let the rice cook.
For the soup
Put cabbage and
preserved vegetables cooked together with chicken stock.
For the ginger
sauce
3 tsp chicken fat
from the stock, 5 tsp of thinly
sliced spring onions, 4 tsp grated ginger, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 3 tsp vegetable oil -
never use olive oil, soy sauce –
optional
Sweet Chilli
Sauce
3 tsp chopped red
birds-eye chillies , 5 tsp of grated ginger and garlic, 2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp white
vinegar, ½ tsp sea salt , half lime juice, 3 tsp Fish sauce[The measurement is just a guide, taste it yourself - everyone is different]
ABC’s Dark sweet
soy sauce.
Serve rice with
tomatoes and cucumbers.
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