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Hainanese chicken rice is a perennial favorite in Malaysia and Singapore. This simple yet tasty dish is enjoyed by all and is a mainstay in the food courts there. For many visiting westerners wary of the more spicy and exotic local fare, chicken rice is also a great choice. The dish can be as mild or spicy as one likes, with the optional chili sauce.
The fair appearance of the dish stands in contrast with the wonderful flavor of the rice and chicken combined with the sesame garlic and chili dipping sauce. Achieving the smooth silky texture of the chicken is an important part of the preparation. This can be tricky as boiling the chicken will give a dry and rough texture but under cooking it may leave the chicken a little too “pink” at the joints, hence, not safe for consumption. To get it just right calls for a short and gentle simmer on the stove followed by a long steeping of the chicken in the boiling water with the heat turned off. The chicken is then shocked in a cold water bath for a few minutes to stop the cooking.
It has been a while since I ate this delicious dish. During my stay in England, my dear friend DongXing and I decided to cook it with chicken thighs and drumsticks instead of the whole chicken, using her mom’s recipe. We reduced the steeping time and omitted dunking the cooked chicken in the cold water bath. We also cooked the rice using butter and saved the little reserved broth for soup. This worked out really well as we were able to cook the rice while the chicken hung out in its hot and steamy bath. The results were no less stellar! The thighs and drums were perfectly cooked – silky smooth and not pink at all! I have since cooked this twice at home and the family totally enjoyed it.
I would like to add that the simmering and steeping time is just right for this time of the year with the home ambient temperature in the mid 70′s F (mid 20′s C). Changes will likely be needed in the winter when the average temperature in the house drops to the mid and upper 60′s Fahrenheit (upper 10′s C). Ahh…the trials of cooking in temperate climate! Hopefully I will be able to test out my theory and add a note to the recipe in the winter. In the meantime, please do enjoy this now. 
I adapted the recipe a little by using chicken leg quarters and making a simple sesame garlic sauce to drizzle on the chicken.
Ingredients
- 3 chicken leg quarters (thighs and drums attached)
- 1 piece ginger about 1 inch thick, smashed
- ½ cucumber, sliced thinly into coins
- 4 Napa cabbage leaves, sliced
- Salt and pepper
- 2 cups long grain rice, rinsed and drained
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 piece ginger, about 1 inch thick, smashed
- 3 tbsp butter
- 2¼ cups (540ml) water
- ½ tsp salt
- 5 red Anaheim chilies
- 1 piece ginger, about 1 inch thick
- 3 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup (60ml) rice vinegar
- 2 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
Instructions
Bring a pot of water with ginger (enough to cover chicken by about an inch on the top) to boil. Rub chicken leg quarters with some salt and lower into boiling water. Bring water back up to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and allow it to simmer for 5 minutes if using electric stove. Allow it to simmer for 7 minutes if using gas stove. Turn off heat and leave chicken to sit in boiling water on the stove for 30 minutes. Do not open lid.**
Melt butter in deep fry pan. Sauté garlic and ginger for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in rice and fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
Transfer rice to rice cooker. Add water and salt and press the cook button. Alternatively, add water and salt to pan and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and allow it to simmer until all water is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Turn heat down to the lowest setting and leave pot on for another 5 minutes. Turn off heat, remove pot. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Place all chili sauce ingredients in a food processor and process until fine. Remove and divide into 4 small dishes. Drizzle a little soy sauce and a few drops of sesame oil on the chili sauce. Store the remaining sauce in a glass jar.
Place garlic and sesame oil in a small microwaveable dish and microwave on high for 1½ minutes. Remove and mix in 2 tablespoon soy sauce. Set aside for now.
Line a dinner plate with sliced cucumbers. When chicken is ready, remove and immediately submerge it in a cold bath for 2 to 3 minutes. Reserve the chicken broth for soup. Remove skin and bones from chicken leg quarters and slice into bite size pieces. Place onto sliced cucumbers. Drizzle the prepared sesame garlic sauce over chicken.
Skim off fat from reserved chicken broth. Discard ginger. Bring it back up to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Add Napa cabbage and allow it cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off heat. Ladle into 4 serving bowls.
To serve, divide rice onto 4 plates. Dish a portion of chicken onto each plate. Serve immediately with chilling dipping sauce and a bowl of soup for each place setting.
Notes
** Simmering and steeping time is right for home ambient temperature in the mid 70’s F (mid 20’s C). Changes will likely be needed in the winter when the temperature drops to the mid and upper 60’s F (upper 10’s C).
Enjoy…..and have a wonderful day! 8)
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Tags: Chinese, gluten-free, main dish
Biren, I am so happy you posted this. I have always wanted to try Hainanese chiken rice, but since I am not where I can get it made for me…looks like I have to try making it myself to get a chance to try it. Your photos are so helpful, and your explanation as well. It is still quite hot and humid here in Florida…usually through October.
I hope it works out well for you. Happy cooking!
I just love how different cultures create so many unique dishes with the same simple ingredients such as chicken and rice. I can totally see myself making this and loving all those great flavors in the chicken, rice, and sauce. The soup made with the broth and cabbage sounds great too. Great post again!
Thanks Hyosun! It is really interesting as many of the dishes have similarities like the Chinese chap chai and the Korean japchae. I will be posting that soon. So glad to hear you like the flavors of this dish. I hope you will give it a try. You will not be disappointed.
Biren, I love this post. Your chicken sounds wonderful. In fact, it even sounds cool: it hangs out in a hot and steamy bath while you can get on with the other steps. Great short-cuts, too. Oh, and did I say it all looks absolutely delicious?
LOL…you crack me up Jill! It is most convenient that the chicken pieces decide to hang out. It does make life a little less hectic and them a little more relaxed.
One of my favorite dishes – love the dipping sauces.
I like the dipping sauces too!
Hi Biren, I love chicken rice too and your chicken looks very delicious. Just a little feedback, normally I would like to add some English celery and whole onion (skinned) into the boiling water before soaking the chicken. Hope you don’t mind
No problem Ann. Adding the English celery and onion would make the chicken and soup even more flavorful. I will try that the next time.
YUM-YUM! ;D
Biren, I am coming over for lunch
This is my fav and I can eat this everyday.
You are most welcomed for lunch any day, Gertrude. It would be fun to eat and laugh together.
Beautiful post, Biren!
Your fragrant rice sounds so delicious with butter added! I’m gonna try using your recipe next time!
I don’t fancy chicken rice at all when I was young bcoz firstly, I preferred noodles even ’til now. Secondly, I don’t liked meals with mostly meats only but now I’ve a balance in-take under my hubby’s influence (he’s a meat-eater) and lastly, chicken rice is just too common, you can almost see it everywhere you go that made me feel so sicked of it, not to mention about eating (weird me). But ever since I was preggy with my 2nd gal, I kept craving for chicken rice and I can ate almost everyday at least once! From then on, I’ve fell in love with chicken rice, esp the fragrant rice!
The funny thing is, my 2nd gal loves chicken so much too! Maybe bcoz I kept eating it while having her. lol
Have a great day!
Thanks Lyn! I know what you mean by overdose of chicken as it is the favorite meat in your neck of the woods. I am glad though that you finally liked chicken rice again as it is a really tasty dish. In the old days, the rice is made using chicken fat but butter works just as well. In fact, the butter makes it fragrant and it is so much simpler to use. I can’t wait for you to try it.
I am so glad we got a chance to cook this together. My husband was so turned off from this dish ever since I cooked a whole bird like this which turned out still pink on the inside – I lost my nerve about cooking it again. It was an excellent idea of yours to use chicken quarters. Now this dish has been requested again, complete with the dipping sauce and most importantly, the cucumbers at the bottom of the chicken. Thank you!
I think many people are put off cooking this dish as it can be tricky getting it just right. I don’t blame you for being jittery about cooking it again. I may have attempted it once and never did it again for the same reason. Glad we were able to overcome that. So good to hear your family has requested for it again. My family enjoys it very much too. Yes, the cucumber is a must. It is so tasty after absorbing that sesame garlic sauce.
It would be wonderful if we were living a little closer to each other. It was fun cooking with you.
That looks so good! I’m really loving that sesame garlic sauce. I’d eat it all
I like the garlic sauce too!
Biren, thanks for this recipe. My husband is a big Hainanese chicken rice fan but I don’t know how to cook the whole chicken! I really like this recipe because you use thighs and drumsticks – more approachable for me. I will have to make this dish so my husband will stop dreaming about it.
You are most welcomed Nami! For a long time I did not cook this dish as it is hard to get it just right. The pinkness in the chicken puts a lot of people off and when it is boiled for too long, the texture of the meat is rough. I am so glad I got to try it out with my friend…two heads are definitely better than one!
Have fun trying out the recipe and surprising your hubby with it. 
wonderful salad presentation
Thanks!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I love Hainanese dish. I’ll be visiting Singapore next weekend and I’d like to try this to surprise my friend.
Hi Sheila, thanks for visiting! You will find chicken rice in most, if not all the food courts in Singapore but homemade is special. Enjoy your vacation and I hope you will visit again soon.
i love hainanese chicken rice! but im guessing this rice is more like butter rice instead, which i bet still tastes delicious! apparently the cold water bath is quite important because it helps give that lovely gelatinous layer underneath the skin which is what makes “white cut chicken” taste not like just plain chicken! however, i must say, your method seems much easier to manage and looks delicious too! (:
The butter makes it fragrant. My mom told me that in the old days, chicken fat was used to fry the rice and the chicken broth used as the liquid. Butter is very similar. This method of poaching gives the gelatinous layer even without the cold water bath. I prefer my chicken warm and therefore chose to omit the cold bath.
Wow! my favorite chicken parts, the “drumsticks”
and I add a few slices of ginger into my chicken rice too:D
First of all, I have the same dishware…;)!! And what a coincidence! I just made Hainanese chicken too two days ago, I didn’t make the rice though, maybe I should make a small portion so that it feels more authentic
. Your chicken rice looks extremely yummy!
Chili sauce is not an option for me. When having chicken rice, I must have chili
Oooooh! My childhood dish!!! I love that you also shared the chili sauce with us. I used to dump loads of that on my rice!
Someone literally just asked me where I wanted to travel to next and I said Singapore and Malaysia. I must have been channeling this dish!
Looks easy and tasty!
I’ve never had or heard of this dish before but it sounds delicious!
I love chili sauce with almost everything. This looks like a wonderful meal and what fun to have someone to cook with!
I love Hainanese Chicken Rice and other southeast asian dishes too! Greetings from the Netherlands!
This sounds delicious; anything with fresh garlic and ginger are sure to steal my heart!
I love Hainanese Chicken Rice and yours definitely looks delicious! Ive never seen the rice cooked with butter and sauteed garlic and Ginger before. That sounds like a wonderful idea, I’ll have to try it next time. Thanks for your recipe to this lovely dish, Biren.
This sounds great! That chili dipping sauce sounds right up my alley!
Biren, thank you for posting this. I have always wanted to make chicken rice at home. Now I can!
What a beautiful dish and presentation Biren! Ans I love that chili sauce, delightful
Oh I just had this last week and was wanting to know how they make this! Bookmarking this for later!
I’ve seen this dish in Asia but haven’t got the change to eat it as there are so many great dishes out there. It sounds wonderful and easy enough to make it even on a busy work day. I thought that the rice was boiled in the chicken stock, or at least I think I read that somewhere.
Anyway have a great weekend!
Lately, I have seen a package Hainanese chicken rice ready to heat up at the Asian grocers and made from free range chickens. I’m tempting to try as I’m too lazy to make one. It’s been years I haven’t made it again. Yours is looking very yummy
Wow…instant Hainanese chicken rice! There really are all kinds of pre-packaged food out there. I’ll be interested to know what you thought of it once you’ve tried it.
Thanks Pepy! It is actually quite easy to prepare once you get the hang of it. I will likely be making this quite often.
Thanks for posting. You have inspired me…I am toying with the idea of making chicken rice(love it) but keep putting if off..doesnt seem to difficult
I will never tire of this dish. One of the best comfort food. The way you made it really looks like the chicken rice in Malaysia. I am craving for it now, Biren.
Great blog Biren! My husband always talks about this dish!
Thanks for the recipe will definately ty it!
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