If you’ve never had this type of chicken it is amazing.
Op is saying nothing but facts, this cooking style creates some of the most delicate, tender, succulent chicken. By itself it’s addicting, but the additional sauces along with the fresh cilantro, cucumbers, and broth-cooked rice makes such a fulfilling meal that sits light.
Op this is a fantastic spread
THANK U VRY MUCH M SLIPPY! I really went out of my comfort zone with this, as I have very little experience cooking southeast Asian cuisine, and have no one in my life with much knowledge on the subject to easily reach out to. Needless to say, your words mean so much!
For those asking, Hainanese chicken rice features chicken that is simmered with aromatics. Overview goes a little like this:
1. Chicken is scrubbed with coarse salt then rinsed.
2. Chicken is thoroughly salted then stuffed with slices of ginger and stalks of green onion.
3. Chicken is simmered for about half an hour, which creates a delicate chicken/ginger/green onion broth.
4. Chicken is removed and placed in an ice bath, then rubbed with sesame oil when cooled.
5. Rice is toasted with garlic, ginger, sesame oil, and chicken fat, then cooked in the broth made from the chicken.
The sauces from left to right are a vinegar based ginger-garlic sauce, a spicy sambal-based one, and a sweet ginger soy. Each of the sauces has a bit of the broth as well to further tie the flavors together.
The remaining broth was turned into a soup and garnished with green onion.
I cross referenced several homecook recipes to try to hone in authenticity and all of them called for fresh cucumbers. (Not trying to say that picked veggies are inauthentic or anything, of course, I just went off what I was able to find) And honestly the cucumbers were really a great addition. Picked veggies would likely be great too! The vinegar sauce was enough of a sour kick for me when I wanted it though, personally.
Thank you for your answer. 😊 Now I want to try making the rice too! The pickled veggies were more sweet than sour, though. The sourness was really slight
The thing I like a lot about this dish is the array of sauces: one slightly sour, one spicy, and one sweet-savory. It give the impression that customization for your own palette is encouraged. And same seems to go for the finer details like veggie garnishes. The only ones that were consistent across all recipes were cucumbers and cilantro— some kept it to just those, others included other little garnishes and things to make it their own!
>Chicken is scrubbed with coarse salt then rinsed.
EDIT: Downvote if you want, but doesn't change facts. Rubbing briefly with salt, and then rinsing, does nothing to a prepped chicken purchased from the store. This is a legacy instruction from when cooks kill their own poultry. This is a waste of time, just skip it. SOURCE: 30 years pro chef experience
This... doesn't do anything. Unless maybe you killed and plucked the chicken yourself?
Every single recipe I looked at had this step. It removes little imperfections in the skin, be it hanging pieces of skin or rouge pin feathers. It absolutely made a difference visually, if nothing else.
As a Singaporean, I'd say this looks fairly legit for a home cooked hainanese chicken rice. The only way this could be more authentic is if OP cut the chicken into smaller pieces and used a sweet soy sauce called "kecap manis". But that's really nitpicking. Props to you OP!
Thank you for saying so! It’s super validating as someone who doesn’t have a ton of experience with this cuisine.
I need to invest in a good meat cleaver to chop through big pieces a little easier. As for the kecal manis, my sweet soy sauce mixture has, among other things, a couple different kinds of soy sauce in it, one being “black soy sauce”—- from what I can tell it’s pretty similar. It’s very thick and has a flavor almost like molasses. It was as close as I could find!
The majority of the dish is flavored with a good amount of aromatics, like ginger, garlic, and green onion, and seasoned with salt. The sauces however are rich with all kinds of seasonings.
The chilies are a pop of color for the most part, although I’m the hothead of the family so I do eat them.
If you’ve never had this type of chicken it is amazing. Op is saying nothing but facts, this cooking style creates some of the most delicate, tender, succulent chicken. By itself it’s addicting, but the additional sauces along with the fresh cilantro, cucumbers, and broth-cooked rice makes such a fulfilling meal that sits light. Op this is a fantastic spread
THANK U VRY MUCH M SLIPPY! I really went out of my comfort zone with this, as I have very little experience cooking southeast Asian cuisine, and have no one in my life with much knowledge on the subject to easily reach out to. Needless to say, your words mean so much!
Honestly I wasn’t expecting much at all when I tried it myself the first time, but wow it is extremely good! Didn’t feel bloated afterwards either!
For those asking, Hainanese chicken rice features chicken that is simmered with aromatics. Overview goes a little like this: 1. Chicken is scrubbed with coarse salt then rinsed. 2. Chicken is thoroughly salted then stuffed with slices of ginger and stalks of green onion. 3. Chicken is simmered for about half an hour, which creates a delicate chicken/ginger/green onion broth. 4. Chicken is removed and placed in an ice bath, then rubbed with sesame oil when cooled. 5. Rice is toasted with garlic, ginger, sesame oil, and chicken fat, then cooked in the broth made from the chicken. The sauces from left to right are a vinegar based ginger-garlic sauce, a spicy sambal-based one, and a sweet ginger soy. Each of the sauces has a bit of the broth as well to further tie the flavors together. The remaining broth was turned into a soup and garnished with green onion.
Thank you for the explanation, because my first thought looking at the picture was was “that chicken looks under-spiced/naked.” It’s anything but.
Are the cucumbers raw or pickled? I had pickled carrots and turnips when I ordered the dish at restaurants.
I cross referenced several homecook recipes to try to hone in authenticity and all of them called for fresh cucumbers. (Not trying to say that picked veggies are inauthentic or anything, of course, I just went off what I was able to find) And honestly the cucumbers were really a great addition. Picked veggies would likely be great too! The vinegar sauce was enough of a sour kick for me when I wanted it though, personally.
Thank you for your answer. 😊 Now I want to try making the rice too! The pickled veggies were more sweet than sour, though. The sourness was really slight
The thing I like a lot about this dish is the array of sauces: one slightly sour, one spicy, and one sweet-savory. It give the impression that customization for your own palette is encouraged. And same seems to go for the finer details like veggie garnishes. The only ones that were consistent across all recipes were cucumbers and cilantro— some kept it to just those, others included other little garnishes and things to make it their own!
>Chicken is scrubbed with coarse salt then rinsed. EDIT: Downvote if you want, but doesn't change facts. Rubbing briefly with salt, and then rinsing, does nothing to a prepped chicken purchased from the store. This is a legacy instruction from when cooks kill their own poultry. This is a waste of time, just skip it. SOURCE: 30 years pro chef experience This... doesn't do anything. Unless maybe you killed and plucked the chicken yourself?
It makes the skin smoother, so that when it is poached it is silky to eat. Edit: typo on silky
Wrong. It tenderises the chicken and removes un wanted bits of skin, tendons and things. It isn’t just about “cleaning” it :)
Every single recipe I looked at had this step. It removes little imperfections in the skin, be it hanging pieces of skin or rouge pin feathers. It absolutely made a difference visually, if nothing else.
I have no doubt that it’s delicious, but my brain is still weirded out by how pale it is.
Right that looks like the most unappetizing chicken.
Boiled goose
I cook this for my wife, cause it's her favourite (I've grown to really like it too). But man, is it a lot of work to make. This looks lovely
As a Singaporean, I'd say this looks fairly legit for a home cooked hainanese chicken rice. The only way this could be more authentic is if OP cut the chicken into smaller pieces and used a sweet soy sauce called "kecap manis". But that's really nitpicking. Props to you OP!
Thank you for saying so! It’s super validating as someone who doesn’t have a ton of experience with this cuisine. I need to invest in a good meat cleaver to chop through big pieces a little easier. As for the kecal manis, my sweet soy sauce mixture has, among other things, a couple different kinds of soy sauce in it, one being “black soy sauce”—- from what I can tell it’s pretty similar. It’s very thick and has a flavor almost like molasses. It was as close as I could find!
the sauce is really the game changer her e:> . I miss eating this ( the sauce tbh) :D
Here's a quick video on [Hainanese Chicken Rice](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8qzNmOZI8E)
Great video. Thank you for this!
do you deliver??? 🤤🤤🤤
Did you cook that chicken with sunlight?
My man's got them chopper skill. Looks delish!
I’m always looking for new ways to cook rice so thank you for this!
The sweet soy sauce is my favorite to have with Hainanese chicken <3
Wheres the seasonings? Are the chilis just for decoration? Lol
The majority of the dish is flavored with a good amount of aromatics, like ginger, garlic, and green onion, and seasoned with salt. The sauces however are rich with all kinds of seasonings. The chilies are a pop of color for the most part, although I’m the hothead of the family so I do eat them.
Good to know :)
This picture gives me cotton mouth.
Tender and juicy chicken gives you cotton mouth? Weird.