We had Cauliflower Soup (3rd pic) using the chicken stock and the last pic is the *dipping sauce (my Mom-in-law's recipe at the bottom) for the chicken. |
After about 1-2 weeks, I still haven't got the chance to cook the chicken rice, I felt very bad about keeping Kay awaiting so long for my promised recipe that I decided to post on the recipe first w/o the photos but Kay told me not to be pressurized about it and said, all of you would love to see those photos together with the recipe too, no hurry and no worries.
Thank you Kay!Thank you for your patience and understanding! Finally I can share this Hainanese Chicken Rice with all of you and myself too!
Let me start with a little history introduction and what are the changes of the 'Star of the Day' before I go into my quite complicated recipe details.
Although Hainanese Chicken Rice is a mainstay in food courts in Singapore and Malaysia, it's a Chinese origin from an island of Hainan off the coast of China, which is based on the well-known Hainanese dish called Wenchang Chicken, 文昌鸡. It is often considered as the "national dish" of Singapore and was touted popularised in the 1950s.
Hainanese Chicken Rice is not only served at stalls and food courts, it is also one of the few local dishes served on Singapore Airline flights. It is often served at international expositions and global events abroad, and in Singaporean-run restaurants overseas.
In Singapore, there are so many stalls selling Hainanese Chicken Rice, practically everywhere you go. There are stalls that have established franchise or branch outlets so you can see that not every stall serves the same varieties i.e. majority of the stalls have a choice of the steamed white chicken and the roasted chicken with side-dishes of hard-boiled egg, chicken liver, firm tofu and different veggies in oyster sauce either bean sprouts, kailan芥兰 or xiaobai cai (Bok Choy) 小白菜. Some but rarely found nowadays served Ah Char, can consider as a spicy appetizer made up of long, thick strips cucumber, carrot, red/green big chilies and bite-sized pineapples soaked in white vinegar and sugar with crushed peanuts. Now quite a number of stalls are having a new add of Lemon Chicken Rice. It's fried chicken cutlet with rice topped with lemon sauce. Even canteen vendors in schools also sell chicken rice but in more simple style with sliced chicken with rice and soy sauce as a healthier choice. Hope you're not bored with all these.
Ingredients for 4-6 Pax :
- 1 Fresh Chicken (Cleaned & Washed)
- *4-6 Cups Uncooked Rice (Washed, Rinsed & Soaked awhile)
- 1 Bunch of Pandan Leaves (Washed, Seperated & Tie Knot Lightly)
- 1 Thumb-sized Ginger (Lightly Crushed)
- 10 Cloves Garlic (Lightly Crushed with Skin on)
- ½ Bowl of Chicken Fats (You can get it from the chicken stall when you buy fresh ones from them)
- #Stock from Boiling/Steaming the Chicken
- 10 Cloves of Garlic (Minced)
- 10 Small Onions (Minced)
- 1 Thumb-sized Ginger (Minced)
- ½-1 Bowl of Oil from Chicken Fats
- ½ Tbsp Salt
- ⅓ Cup Light Soy Sauce
#There are 2 different methods of cooking the chicken and because I bought two, my Mom used both methods (to save time) so I can share with you. Usually we'll boil the chicken as we need quite a lot of the stock.
For this recipe, I'll guide you thru with all these step by step photos that I took on 2nd July, Saturday because I find this slightly complicated, you may not understand what I'm trying to explain so I hope all these photos can help. Enjoy!
How to Cook :
STEP ONE
STEP ONE
- Clean and wash the chicken thoroughly together with the head. Stuff 1 thumb-sized crushed ginger into the chicken's stomach. You can do this the night before. Rub salt evenly all over the chicken, inside the beak too and inside of the cavity then put in the fridge covered. This is to let the salt absorbs into the chicken. We didn't do this because I bought the chickens in the morning on the same day we cooked. Request to clean up the inside of the chicken when you buy at the market.
STEP ONE |
Boiling Method :
STEP TWO
STEP TWO
- Boil a pot of water enough to cover the whole chicken. When water boils, put chicken in for about 1-2mins. Turn off heat, cover and keep chicken inside the pot of water for about 30-45mins. *DO NOT OPEN THE POT THRU-OUT TO PEEK!Cooking time varies depending on how big your chicken is and also younger or older chicken you use. Young ones cook faster than old ones, you must know all these so that you won't over-cooked your chicken.
- After 30-45mins, use a chopstick to poke thru the thighs part. There should be no blood flowing out. Take out the chicken cautiously from the pot. Tie a plastic string around the neck to hang and drip dry. We didn't do this because I told Cathy to chop off the heads. IF there is blood flowing out, turn on the heat on high again for about 1min uncovered, turn heat off and cover for another 5mins.
- Fill up a large pot with 3 big bowls of water with a cooling rack inside, bring to boil. Put chicken on a big round stainless steel plate/mold (like the one in the photo below). When water boils, put in the plate of chicken on cooling rack in the pot and steam for about 30mins. After 30mins, off the heat and keep chicken inside for about 30-45mins. *DO NOT OPEN THE POT THRU-OUT TO PEEK!Cooking time varies depending on how big your chicken is and also younger or older chicken you use. Young ones cook faster than old ones, you must know all these so that you won't over-cooked your chicken.
- After 30-45mins, use a chopstick to poke thru the thighs part. There should be no blood flowing out. Take out the chicken cautiously from the pot. Tie a plastic string around the neck to hang and drip dry. IF there is blood flowing out, turn on the heat on high again for about 1min uncovered, turn heat off and cover for another 5mins.
STEP TWO *Pat lightly with salt all over chicken before hanging dry if you did not season the chicken with salt overnight. CAUTION!CHICKEN WILL BE VERY HOT AFTER TAKING OUT FROM POT, SO THIS STEP MUST BE DONE VERY QUICKLY! |
Ingredients for Oily Rice |
STEP THREE
- Heat wok on high heat, put in all the chicken fats and fry. After awhile, you'll see some oil forming. Scoop away those oil and continue frying, stirring constantly until the fats start to shrink and turn crispy light brown around the sides. Turn off heat, set aside about half the amount of oil produced, leaving the remaining oil in wok. You should be able to get about 1 bowlful of oil.
STEP THREE |
STEP FOUR
- Add all the minced ingredients into wok of oil to fry on medium-high heat, stirring it constantly. When it starts to turn medium light brown color, add a little bit of oil that was kept aside, ½ tbsp salt and ⅓ cup light soy sauce. Continue frying and stir well for another min or two, turn off heat.
STEP FOUR |
STEP FIVE
- Wash and rinse uncooked rice, drain off all the water. Transfer all the fried minced ingredients to the rice. Add in chicken stock to the desired water level for cooking rice, ratio is 1:1.25 (depending on how many cups of rice you cook) Add more light soy sauce if necessary. Add in the 10 cloves of crushed garlic with skin on, 1 thumb-sized crushed ginger and pandan leaves. Cook oily rice in rice cooker as usual. While waiting for the rice to be cooked, chop the chicken into pieces.
STEP FIVE *This may be very oily and unhealthy but the more oil and those minced ingredients you add, the tastier it is. |
Updates on recipes for the Chicken Rice Chilli Sauce and Dipping Sauce I missed out when published on 9th July.
Chicken Rice Chilli Sauce Ingredients :
- 10 Big Red Chillies-Use Small Chilli Paddies if you prefer more spicy (Washed & Rinsed)
- 5 Cloves Garlic (Peeled & Rinsed)
- 1 Slice Ginger About 2cm Thick (Peeled & Rinsed)
- 2 Tbsp Lime Juice
- 3 Tbsp Chicken Stock
- Salt to Taste
Hainanese Chicken Rice Chilli Sauce |
Chicken Rice Dipping Sauce Ingredients :
- 3 Tbsp Cooking Oil
- 1 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce
- ½ Tsp Salt
- 2 Thumb-sized Ginger (Shredded)
- 2 Small Onions (Minced)
- 8 Cloves Garlic (Minced)
- 2-3 Stalks Green Onions (Chopped) *Add more will be nicer*
- Heat wok with 3 tbsp oil, saute ginger and small onions until light golden brown.
- Add in minced garlic, saute for about 1min, add in chopped green onions and stir well.
- Add salt and light soy sauce, stir fry for 1min and off the heat.
41 Foodies ➸:
Lyn, this looks so yummy, yes so very intimidating for a novice cook like me. I had no idea there are so many steps to making this recipe, looks like I will have to stay with ordering it in our favorite Malay restaurants until I become a seasoned cook! Hope you have a great weekend!
Thank you so much, Lyn, this is well worth the wait!! My goodness, this was a ton of work for you and your mom, not just cooking, but you took so many great pictures too! This is the best recipe ever I have seen of Hainanese Chicken Rice! The other recipes I have seen or tried are too simple and now I see why they didn't come out very tasty. I'm going to have to study this recipe a bit more before I dare try making it! Thanks, Lyn, you did an awesome job <3 <3 <3
Wow! What a great recipe! It looks awesome, so nice of you to share.
Lyn ,
Thanks for sharing such a detail recipe!! Great work!
Jeno, this is indeed very yummy at least for us :) This is my very first time seeing and learning to cook chicken rice from my mom! lol
All along I used those off the shelves bottles of pre-mixed chicken rice seasoning (just need to add few tbsps to uncooked rice with water that's all and so easy!) whenever we feel like eating when we were at our own house coz I knew that there're a lot of steps to cook from scratch and I'm just too lazy for that! :P
I was glad that I finally learn my parents' recipe! If not for Kay's craving for chicken rice, I don't think I'll learn this! So I can say, I must thank Kay too! :D
This maybe looks difficult and complicated but once you read thru a few times, it's actually not, just a lot of works involved. Hope you'll also try this too Jeno! :) Enjoy your weekend too! ^.^
You're most welcome Kay! :D
Tks for your sweetest compliments and I'm so glad you like this although it's so complicated! Hope you're able to understand this recipe coz somehow I just feel that I'm writing too much and made it so difficult to follow or understand?? Just feel free to ask me if any doubts ok? I'll be vey happy to help! ^.^
In fact I should also thanked you for missing the chicken rice in SG! Otherwise, I wouldn't have learn my parents' recipe and continue using those pre-mixed bottle of seasonings off the shelves for the Lazy Lyn! lol
I think I missed out the chilli and the dipping sauce part! I'll update these ASAP. Have a great weekend! ^.^
Hi Lyndsey! So glad to see you here again! :D
Tks so much for your lovely comments! :)
I'm so sorry for not been visiting lately but I'm trying to catch up what I've missed now! See ya soon and enjoy your weekend! ^.^
Tks so much Teddy Bento! :D
Glad that you like this too! So, how have you been lately? Hope you're doing fine:)
Have a wonderful weekend! ^.^
Thank you fo sharing a family recipe! It looks delish, and I loved to read all the backgrounds! :D
My dad doesn't cook much (he sometimes fries eggplant slices in olive oil, but they're so fatty that my mom and I wouldn't want to eat them), so most of my "home" recipes are from my mom or grandmoms. I should share some more of them!
This is soooo intensely awesome! Truly authentic to the depth of my soul. So jealous of that rice. I am going to definitely revise my recipe and redo my rice again. Thank you for sharing such awesomeness!
Tks Kath and you're always welcome! :D
So glad that you love this recipe too! :)
Yes Kath! Please do so and share with us your home recipes! I'm sure all of us will be very happy to learn them! Can't wait to see your home recipes! :D
Hope you had a wonderful weekend! ^.^
Hi Pierre! Tks so much for your sweet compliments! :D
So glad you like this recipe too! Your roasted chicken rice looks great and yummy! I'm gonna try your recipe some day and also hope to see your chicken rice recipe again! I love trying out new recipes! :D
Have a great weekend! ^.^
Wow Lyn!!! My husband is a big fan of Hainanese Chicken Rice. I myself had never tried, but he always talk about this one place in Los Angeles that makes famous chicken rice. I never cooked chicken dish from whole chicken (I'm scared of chicken neck, yeah not head, "neck") but I have been wanting to try this rice for almost 5 years now. Yes, 5 years... Thank you for sharing this recipe. Now I know how to cook it, maybe minus chicken neck (lol!). Or it's easier if I visit Kay when she cooks. LOL! My dad NEVER cooks, and your dad is super cool!
This looks so delicious, Lyn...!! I hope I will have the chance to try authentic Hainanese chicken rice when I visit Singapore in the near future :)!! When not, I have your recipe to follow...:). Thanks for the step-by-step pics and instructions :)!
This dish looks so delectable, Lyn! I hope I can find pandan leaves here so I can try your dad's recipe. I don't care if it's time consuming to prepare and cook...coz just by the pictures, I'm sure that the outcome would be so good!!!
What a fantastic chicken rice recipe! It looks like a lot of work, but well worth it! Great post and great pictures! <3
Tks Nami! I'm really very happy that so many of you like this post! :D
All your sweet and kind comments really means so much so much to me and they really gave me so much confidence now then before when I just started blogging. I'm truly grateful for your supports and encouragements all the while! :)
Yeah, maybe you can request for a 'no neck' chicken at the stall! lol
I'm sure Kay will be very happy if you visit her! :D
My dad seldom cook now ever since we moved in. lol
Tks CG! I'm so glad you like this recipe too! :D
Do let me know if you really visit and I'll be very happy to bring you around Singapore for the nicest food! ^.^
Tks Tina! I just knew it! Nothing can fear you in the kitchen! :D
Btw, it doesn't really matters if you can't get the pandan leaves (this is for the fragrance only, no worries), the oily rice will still be very tasty if you use enough or more of the other ingredients. ^.^
Tks Manu! You never fail to give me so much supports and confidence! :D
Hope you'll try this out too and feedback to me! Sounds like I'm doing market survey for the intention to open a chicken rice stall! lol
Just kidding! ^.^
Lyn,
Thanks for the great photo and details of the Hainanese chicken rice.Oh! and the sauce too...
WOW Lyn this looks amazing. What a great job. I know exactly what you meant about your father's cooking - my dad cooked ony a few dishes but nobody could cook those better!
Tks Cindy! Glad to know that you like this chicken rice recipe! :D
Hi Chris! So happy to see you here and tks for your lovely compliments! :D
Yes you're right! Somehow, we just couldn't learn to cook those dishes as well as them (our Dads) no matter how many times we try to cook them right!? lol
This all looks so amazing. So much time went into all this and I bet it was well worth it. My mouth is watering! Thanks for following - am following back.
@All That I'm Eating--Tks for your time visiting and following my blog! Nice to know you and your lovely blog! :D
Tks for your sweet comments too! Hope you have a wonderful weekend! ^.^
Hi there Lyn. Thanks for following my blog. Your hainanese chicken rice here sure looks yummy and authentic. It also looks pretty tedious. I hope I can find it in my lazy self to try making this one day. I'm sure my hubby and kids will love it - hubby likes oily food and my son is in love with chicken rice.
Really awesome recipe Lyn..Beautiful post, really lovely written, and pictures are also very beautiful! Thank you for sharing this..sounds incredibly tasty!!!
Hi mom2kiddos! Tks so much for your time visiting and giving me your sweetest kind comment! I'm truly appreciated! Hope to see your chicken rice soon. :)
My youngest girl is so much in love with chicken rice too and she can finished up one big bowl of the oily rice alone! The portion was almost doubled her usual portion!:D
Nice to know you and I love your lovely interesting blog! I'll sure be back there for more interesting posts! Have a great day! ^.^
Hi Sandra! So happy to see you here! Tks a bundle for your lovely comment! :D
Btw, I love your posts on those cooking together with your daughter. It's really a great bonding time and I'm sure she'll be a great cook just like you! ;D
Have a great day! ^.^
Lyn, I have always wanted to learn how to make hainanese chicken rice and yet to find the right recipe and method. I found it today! I really appreciate your effort in taking those photos and writing out the method. I know that's lot of work. I can't wait to make this for my family. I know they are going to love it!
@Quay Po Cooks Hi Quay Po, I'm glad you like this Hainanese chicken rice recipe and can't wait to see yours! Do let me know how it turns out when you cook and also if I need any improvements for this recipe. ;)
There's really a lot of work but I feel it's worth the time when you can have a plate of fragrant savory chicken rice to your own liking at home. ;D
Hi Lyn,
Thanks for dropping by my blog and following me. I am now following you back. Great to know you are from S'pore!
You have a very nicely written Hainanese chicken recipe. I have tried making this at home few times but I always felt I was missing something. Next time, I will be following your method. Thanks for sharing.
@Spoon and Chopsticks Hi SC! Really appreciate your time visiting and following my blog. ;D
Thanks so much for your kind words and I'm so happy that you like this post! Hope you and your family would like this Hainanese Chicken Rice too. Do let me know when you cook this! ;)
Have a great day!
@Ꮮуռ (ᶬˠ ᶩᶤᵗᵗᶥᵋ ᵐᵋˢˢᵞ ᴻ ᶜʱᵋᵋᵏᵞ)
Hi Lyn, Just wondering if there is a specific method to cut the chicken nicely once it's ready to be served?
Thanks
@Spoon and Chopsticks Hi SC, frankly, I've never chop up any chickens before bcoz I always use either drums/thighs. ;P
But I'd seen my parents and my late grandma chopped a whole chicken lots of time and whenever I buy chicken rice outside, I'd watched how they cut those chickens (find that interesting), so I'm able to tell you step by step how they chopped it.
1. Chop off the feet and the whole neck, then cut about 3 inches long each until the head (either throw or as part of decor, I mean the head).
2. Pull the wing outwards, cut off together with the little drum-let for both sides.
3. Pull the big drum outwards, cut a big curve along it and also along the top of drum until the thigh part. Cut off the whole drum+thigh for both sides. (Pour out any excess fats in it)
4. From the top of chicken where you chopped off the neck, cut along the backbones all the way 'til the backside. Turn it over, continue cutting until you get .
5. Cut into half again lengthwise for both the . Now you'll have a total of four long parts.
6. Cut each part ACROSS vertically into even pieces.
Arrange them on serving plate in a way that looks like a whole chicken but it's a puzzled one. ;)
Hope you're able to understand what I'm trying to explain. If there's still any doubts or questions, feel free to leave a msg or email me at: mylilmessycheeky[at]gmail[dot]com
Have a wonderful week! ;D
Thanks for your comment on my blog. I appreciate you writing steps on chopping the chicken. Why not create a new post for it? You said you took some pictures. It will definitely make a great post. I'm sure people will find it very useful.
----------------------------
Regards
Spoon and Chopsticks
http://spoon-and-chopsticks.blogspot.com
@Spoon and Chopsticks You're most welcome, SC! ;D
I did have the same thought too but those pics' lighting didn't turned out very well (I'm always using my iphone for taking pics of almost everything) and I'm actually trying to see what can I do to make them better. I'll let you know if they're successfully done, if not, I'll find another chance to re-take them again when I cook a whole chicken again. ;)
Thank you so much for your thoughtful suggestion. Have a wonderful weekend! :D
This looks really delicious- particularly the oily rice. WOW! I need an occasion to try this out on my kids. :)
@Babs Hi Babs! Nice to know you! ;D
We all love the oily rice! I'm so glad to know you like it! More chicken fats is the key to delicious, flavorful and fragrant oily rice. Can't wait to see your oily rice! ;)
Happy Weekend!
PS: So sorry for my late reply. I wasn't on blogger lately. ;(
No problem! We all take breaks from blogger from time to time. :)
Post a Comment