I have no word to describe how much I adore this dish ever since I was a child.
It is simply heavenly yummy!
While chicken rice, or nasi ayam is so common and popular here in my place, however, Hainanese chicken rice is more familiar among Chinese since the dish itself is originated from Southern China, created by immigrants from Hainan.
This is how the dish get it's name.
If you googled on chicken rice recipe, you'll find a number of recipes offering different variations of the way to prepare chicken rice.
Some of the recipes use the empat sekawan (cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and star anises) to cook the rice, while some other recipes called for usage of lemongrass and pandan leaves for fragrant aroma of the rice.
So, what makes Hainanese chicken rice stands out from the rest of chicken rice recipes?
First of all, we need to know the component of the chicken rice itself.
So, basically, chicken rice is a set of rice that consists of:
- Rice cooked with chicken broth, ginger and garlic
- Chicken (steamed, fried or roasted)
- Spicy chili sauce
- Soy sauce
- Soup
- Ginger garlic sauce (sometimes)
The most prominent aspect that makes the Hainanese chicken rice distinct is that the way of cooking the chicken.
The chicken is usually fried or roasted in the Malay version of chicken rice.
Whereas the chicken for the Hainanese chicken rice is boiled to tender, then immediately transfer the chicken into a bath of ice water to quickly cools it down and prevent further cooking process from the remaining heat that left in the chicken flesh.
Bathing the chicken in ice water will also makes the chicken skin firm in texture.
After dunked into the ice water, the chicken is then rubbed with sesame oil to ensure the skin and the flesh remain moist and not drying out before it is served.
Usually when I make chicken rice, I like to prepare what I called as ginger paste or pes halia.
This paste is consists of ginger and garlic, blended until smooth and fried until the oil starts separating.
Since chicken rice is a Chinese dish, ginger and garlic is a must ingredients.
The ginger paste is added to all of the components of the chicken rice.
The leftover of the paste when seasoned with salt and a few drops of vinegar can be served together with the chicken rice.
I made this for our yesterday's iftar, together with refreshingly sago mango dessert.
Other than the common chopped green onion for the garnish, I also love the flavor of fried shallot on top of my chicken rice and its soup, homemade one, of course!
It is tastier, crispier and unpreserved.
Alright! Let's dive in to the recipe.
NASI AYAM HAINAN | HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE
Cuisine : Chinese
Serve : 5 to 6
INGREDIENTS
For Ginger Paste:
8 inches of ginger
4 cloves of garlic
Water for blending
100 ml of 1/4 cup of cooking oil
For Chicken & The Broth:
1/2 chicken - you may cut into 4 to 6 pieces
Water as needed for pre-boiling the chicken
3500 ml of water (or more if you like to drink the soup)
2 chicken stock cubes | 3 tablespoons of chicken stock powder - optional
Salt to taste
5 stalks of green onion - take the white part
1 to 2 ladles of ginger paste
Sesame oil for rubbing the chicken
Ice water
For Spicy Chili Sauce:
6 red chilies - cut into 1 inch long
2 tablespoons of ginger paste
Lime juice from 1 lime - optional
1 to 2 tablespoons of white vinegar
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste
Broth as needed
For Soy Sauce:
5 tablespoons of light soy sauce
1 to 2 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon of ginger paste
1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar
1 to 2 cups of broth
For Chicken Rice:
2 cups of rice
4 cups of broth (for fragrant rice, use the ratio of 1: 1 for rice and broth)
Salt to taste
2 pandan leaves - knotted
2 to 3 tablespoons of ginger paste
1 tablespoon of chicken stock powder - optional
For Soup:
The remaining broth
1 soup spices (sup bunjut) - optional
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon of white pepper powder
For Ginger Sauce:
The remaining ginger paste
Salt to taste
A few drops of white vinegar
For Fried Shallots (bonus recipe 😉):
6 shallots - thinly sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons of corn flour
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
Oil for frying
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare Ginger Paste:
Blend ginger and garlic until smooth.
Heat oil in a pan, once hot, pour in the blended mixture and cook until the oil starts to separate (pecah minyak).
Transfer into a heat proof container and set aside.
Cook The Chicken & Prepare The Broth:
Boil about 2 liters of water in a pot. Once water is boiling hard, add in chicken pieces and pre-boil over high heat for 1 minute. This is to melt the chicken fat. Transfer the pre-boiled chicken pieces into a bowl and discard the water, including the scum.
Refill pot with clean water, about 3500 ml and add ginger paste. Bring the water to boil, then add in chicken pieces, green onion, chicken stock cubes and season with salt. Lower the heat and let it simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Check for doneness by poking a fork into the flesh under the leg, if the juice that run out is clear, that means the chicken is already cooked all the way through. Turn off the heat and immediately transfer the cooked chicken into a bowl containing ice water for quick cooling process. Soaked the chicken pieces in ice water for about 5 minutes. Then, transfer onto a plate. Rub or brush the chicken with sesame oil to prevent the skin and flesh from drying out. Sesame oil also adds flavor to the chicken.
Prepare The Spicy Chili Sauce:
In a blender, add coarsely cut red chilies, ginger paste, lime juice, vinegar, salt, sugar and chicken broth. Blend until smooth and transfer into a pot. Bring the sauce to boil, then lower the heat and simmer for another few minutes until the sauce reach your desired consistency. You may add more salt, sugar or vinegar at this point if needed.
Prepare The Soy Sauce:
Combine light soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, ginger paste, sugar and chicken broth in a bowl. Stir until well-combined.
Cook The Chicken Rice:
Place cleaned rice into a rice cooker. Add knotted pandan leaves, salt to taste and chicken stock powder (if using). Pour chicken broth over and stir to combine.
Cook the rice as usual.
Once the rice is set, turn off the rice cooker and do not open the lid for 10 minutes.
Then, fluff the rice with a fork.
Make The Soup:
Heat the remaining chicken broth, add soup spices and season with salt and white pepper powder. Let the soup simmer for 20 minutes.
Prepare The Ginger Sauce:
Heat the remaining ginger paste in a pan over low heat. Season with salt and a few drops of vinegar. Stir continuously for 1 or 2 minutes then remove from the heat.
Prepare The Fried Shallots:
Coat sliced onion with corn flour and season with sugar and salt.
Fry over medium heat until golden.
Place the fried shallots into a colander to drain excess oil.
Let it cools completely before storing in an air-tight container.
TO ASSEMBLE THE HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE
Scoop a bowl of chicken rice in the middle of a plate, lay two salad leaves at one side and place chopped chicken on top of it. Garnish with chopped green onion and fried shallots. Arrange a few slices of cucumber and tomato at another side. Scoop a few tablespoons of spicy chili sauce into a sauce bowl, a ladle or two of the soup into a ramekin cup or a soup bowl and place a teaspoon of ginger sauce in a sauce bowl. Serve along with the rice.
Enjoy!
SALAM RAMADHAN..
