This is hands down one of the our favorite dinners at my house. The aromas of ginger, garlic and scallions permeate every component of the dish, resulting in a dish far more than the sum of its parts. It is really, really spectacular.
I'm talking about Chinese (Hainan) Chicken Rice! This recipe is my adaptation of the dish that originated from Hainan province in China, made famously popular in Singapore. I say 'adaptation' because it is far less lengthy compared to the authentic version where a whole chicken is typically poached and as many as three sauces prepared.
The dish comprises of juicy poached chicken served over fluffy rice flavored with ginger and garlic and cooked in that tasty poaching liquid. Traditionally the meal is accompanied by a scallion ginger sauce (soooo good), a red chili-based sauce, and depending on where you eat it, a third condiment - a sweet dark soy sauce. There is also usually a bowl of that poaching broth alongside for washing it all down too. I make only the first sauce - that scallion ginger sauce. And instead of drinking the broth, I save it. More on that further below.
While I appreciate the elevated version, this mama's got no time for that! I make this one a lot and over time I've found ways to streamline the prep into a weeknight version that can be done much more quickly but still deliver the gingery scallion-y awesomeness of the original that will still hit the spot. Well my family definitely thinks so!
SHORTCUTS VERSUS TRADITIONAL PREPARATION :
First and foremost, the eeeasiest shortcut is to use chicken pieces rather than the traditional whole chicken. Not everyone has the time nor the tenacity to cook and dismantle a whole chicken on any given weeknight. Chicken pieces poach much faster, with the added bonus you can select breast and/or leg pieces based on individual preferences of the people you are feeding. By the way, do try to use a quality (organic or naturally-raised) free-range chicken for this recipe since it is prepared so simply (poached), it makes all the difference in the taste of the final dish.
Second, I skip sauces 2 and 3, namely the red chili sauce and sweet dark soy sauce. I don't deny those are spectacular. Because they are. But as a busy mama hustling to get dinner on the table, imma reach for that bottle of sriracha instead. First, who doesn't love sriracha?? Second, I honestly think the ginger-scallion sauce is the crowning jewel here.
Skip the ice bath for the poached chicken if like me, you don't feel compelled to eat the skin. This may be sacrilege as far as the tradition of Hainan chicken (the skin being a critical component of its enjoyment) but I've long decided I prefer it without skin and particularly without the extra step of putting the chicken in an ice bath not to mention the associated clean up. Up to you!
[This one applies to subsequent times you make this - because you will ;)] Third, get this, save and freeze the leftover poaching liquid instead of drinking it with the meal. Once you read the full recipe, you'll notice the linear process whereby you poach the chicken first, then when that is done, you use the poaching liquid to cook the rice. I've found there is about twice the amount of poaching liquid than needed for the rice i.e. 6 cups of liquid to poach the chicken of which 3 cups is required for the rice, so you have an extra 3 cups of broth. The exact amount may vary a bit depending on (a) evaporation and (b) the shape and size of your poaching pot but you can just top up with some plain water to make up the 3C needed for rice - the difference is not noticeable. All this so the next time you make this meal, you poach the chicken and cook the rice in parallel in other words, the minute you've dropped your chicken into the water to poach, you can immediately use your defrosted broth (saved from last time) to cook rice. This shaves off 30+ minutes (or more) which is major time-savings in weeknight terms!
Chinese (Hainan) Chicken Rice { weeknight-ified! }
{ gluten-free, dairy-free }
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
For the Poached Chicken
8-10 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs and/or breast pieces (your choice) (~2.5 lbs)
4 scallions, cut in half
6 cloves of garlic, crushed
2.5" (~75g) knob of ginger (unpeeled is fine), sliced
1 medium onion, rough chopped
6 C water or enough to just cover the chicken (depending on the pot size)
1.5 tsp salt
For the Scallion Ginger Dipping Sauce
1" (~30g) ginger, peeled and minced fine or grated with microplane
2 garlic cloves, grated with microplane
8 scallions, sliced thinly
1 tsp salt
1/3 C grapeseed or vegetable (or use coconut / avocado oils if avoiding refined oils)
For the Rice
3 C jasmine rice, or other long grain rice
2/3" (~20g) knob of ginger, peeled and fine minced
4 cloves of garlic, fine minced
3 C liquid from poaching the chicken, above
A bit of oil of your choice
To serve
Big pile of leafy green vegetable like sauteed bok choy or steamed chinese gai lan
Cucumber slices, cilantro if you like
Sriracha
Drizzle of sesame oil
METHOD
Prep the aromatics: There is quite a lot of ginger, garlic and scallion used in this recipe! The fastest way to go about it is to prep those items in parallel. Begin by setting out the following 3 vessels:
a large pot for the poaching the chicken pieces,
a small prep bowl for the aromatics that will flavour the rice, and
a medium heatproof bowl for the scallion-ginger sauce
Prep the respective amounts of ginger , scallions and garlic for each of the 3 vessels in accordance with the instructions outlined within the “Ingredients” section above.
Put the rice in the pot you plan to cook it in and wash it in cool tap water, draining several times and washing with fresh water until the water is less opague, but does not need to run clear. Soak for 10 minutes. Drain in fine-mesh colander (make sure the weave is small enough the grains won’t fall through) for up to 30 minutes if you have the time.
Poach the chicken: Add the remaining poaching ingredients including the chicken into the pot. Add the water but adjust (depending on pot size) to ensure it covers the chicken by about 1”. Cover and bring it all to a rolling boil. Skim the scum. (If you want more precision in this cooking method, you can stick a meat thermometer - the kind were the needle is attached to a digital unit via wire that hangs out of the oven or pot - into the thickest part of one chicken piece to get visibility on the progress). Cover and quickly bring back to a vigorous boil, lower the heat to a gentle simmer (small bubbles) and cook for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove the pot from the heat completely without removing the lid. Allow it to stand covered for 30 minutes (or more could be up to 50 minutes if the chicken pieces are very large) or until the temperature of the thickest part is 165f. Exact length of time to cook will depend on the size of your chicken pieces and to some extent how well your pot retains heat. Once the chicken is cooked through, use a pair of tongs to remove the pieces from the pot, either directly to a cutting board or if you don't mind the extra step, put it in an ice bath to firm up the skin if you plan to eat it (I typically pull off the skin for serving). Skim any remaining scum from the broth.
[If you have reserved poaching liquid from a previous meal, you can cook the rice right now instead of waiting for the chicken to finish poaching - see headnotes re: shortcuts]
Cook the rice (once the chicken is done poaching): Heat a medium-sized pot over medium heat. Add a drizzle of oil and saute the minced ginger and garlic for 10 seconds, stirring the whole time to prevent burning. Turn off heat (but keep on stove for residual heat) and stir in the drained rice, folding it gently over and over to cover all the grains with the flavourful oil. Be gentle so as not to break the rice grains too much. Add 3C of the poaching liquid into the pot. Bring liquid to a boil, immediately lower the heat to a low simmer and cook covered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow it to rest for another 5 minutes, without lifting the lid! Alternatively you can use a rice cooker or Instant Pot pressure cooker if you have either one. Once rice is done, fluff the rice with a spoon and keep it warm with the lid on until ready to serve.
While the chicken is poaching / rice is cooking . . .
Prep the veggie sides: wash the bok choy or your choice of leafy vegetable, trimming the stems and cutting smaller as necessary. Wash and thinly slice half of a cucumber (using a mandoline if you have one). Wash and pick cilantro leaves, if using. Set aside.
Finish the scallion ginger sauce: Heat the oil in a small pot until it is hot and starts popping (but don't burn it). Pour it all over your prepped minced ginger / garlic / scallion mixture. It should sizzle and pop! Set aside.
Reserved poaching liquid: You can either serve the remaining broth alongside the meal as is customary to do, OR save it for next time you make this meal so you can poach the chicken and cook the rice at the same time in parallel, rather than sequentially as is required the first time around. I highly recommend doing this to save time.
To serve: Pull large pieces of chicken meat off the bone, brush or drizzle some sesame oil and serve on top of that flavorful rice along with sauteed leafy vegetables and copious amounts of ginger-scallion sauce.
Enjoy and thank you for reading!
Dec 2017 :: this post was refreshed with new images and some revisions to the recipe. I love this meal!