Hainanese Chicken Rice, the national dish of Singapore and a well known staple meal in Malaysia and Indonesia is based on a well-known and historical Hainanese dish called "Wenchang Chicken" (文昌雞).
Thanks to catlycocat for photos and edits.
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| Hainanese Chicken Rice - I always feel that the chicken to rice ratio in restaurants could be improved. |
The name Wenchang Chicken is a bit of a misnomer, as there are many types of chicken dishes cooked with chicken from Wenchang City in the island of Hainan. The chicken is typically raised free-range for 2-3 months, until it reaches a weight of approximately 1.3kg (3lbs). Their diet is supplemented by island staples, particularly coconuts, as well as yam, rice and peanuts, supplementing foraged worms, insects and seeds.
They supposedly gained popularity when a court official from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) served up some dishes made from this chicken to the Emperor, and thus the dish was named "Wenchang Chicken" [citation needed].
This dish was spread all over SE Asia with the wave of emigration from China in the early 20th century, and variations can be found all over the region. The modern Hainanese Chicken Rice is likely also influenced by Cantonese style poached chicken (白斩雞), which generally uses a younger chicken. Older chickens, particularly free range roosters, tend to be very chewy. I recommend using smaller, younger chickens. In HK / China “Yellow Skin” Chicken (黃油雞), or Loong Kong Chicken (龍崗雞) are recommended for that rich chicken flavor.
The chicken is characterized by having a thick yellow skin, high amounts of fat, with flavorful (slightly gamey) meat. When carefully poached in chicken stock (then submerged in ice), the skin takes on a gelatinous texture, and the meat is very tender and aromatic. In Wenchang, the chicken is served with bones, but in Singapore, it's served boneless. I imagine that restaurants tend to use the same stock over the years, with the flavor improving with every chicken cooked.
The sauce is also important, and the authentic Wenchang sauce is made of mashed ginger, mashed garlic, soy sauce, salt and calamansi (similar to lime) juice. In Singapore, it is usually served with three sauces, a chili sauce, a ginger sauce, and a dark, semi-sweet soy sauce.
My friend Peter tells me that the ginger sauce was introduced to the dish by the hardworking and honest Samshui women (三水妇女), who went to Singapore to work, especially in the 1930s to escape the Japanese war on China. They came from the Sanshui district in Guangdong Province, mainly worked in construction, and believed that ginger is the poorwoman's ginseng, and ate as much of it as they could.
I've also included a personal favorite, variation on Cantonese Style Ginger Scallion Oil (薑蓉). Using old ginger (spicier), shallots instead of spring onion adding a little chicken stock and sesame oil to my recipe makes it an authentic Samsui ginger sauce (sugar is optional if your ginger is too sharp). Old ginger is a warming tonic that's good for qi, and despels "wind". Sesame oil is also good for "wind", and promotes appetite. The ginger sauce in Singapore also omits garlic, and is less salty.
This dish is also served with Chicken Rice, which is rice that has been toasted in chicken fat, then cooked with the same chicken broth that is used to poach the chicken. This rice is very important, and in Singapore, variations can be found. It is easy to make, but hard to perfect.
The chicken broth is often served with the meal, garnished with chopped scallions and coriander or cucumbers. You can also aromatics like chopped celery/ carrots / onions to make a hearty soup. Leftover chicken stock should be reduced and saved, for use later.
Hainanese Chicken Rice is a classic Singaporean dish, this recipe is as close to authentic as possible for a home kitchen, using a small chicken. Most cooking pots should comfortably fit two small 900g chickens at one time, and doing two at a time leaves you with delicious leftovers for the next meal.
For salting the chicken, I usually brine overnight, using a 2% of the chicken's weight to calculate how much salt to use.
For those who like to have less contact with raw chicken, a wet brine also works. To use soy sauce or other salty liquids such as fish sauce, use my sodium / salinity calculator.
I also make an easier "lazy" version where I cook chicken thighs and rice the rice cooker simultaneously.
I also make an easier "lazy" version where I cook chicken thighs and rice the rice cooker simultaneously.
The rice quantity in the below recipe can be increased as much as your rice cooker can handle. Just add more garlic/ ginger/ scallions to the schmaltz, and don't be afraid of topping it up with a neutral oil.
Personally, if I go to the trouble of making this dish, I'll max out my kitchen capacity. My soup pot fits 2-3 chickens. It takes about as long to cook 3 of them as it does to cook 1. Extra chicken can be shredded (once it's cooled) and mixed with "extra" green scallion sauce in preparation for an amazing "cold sesame chicken". The leftover rice will make the EASIEST and most delicious egg fried rice you have ever had - leftover Hainanese Chicken RICE has a lower tendency to clump.
Fans of the blog will also soon know what I feel about retrograded resistant starches soon.
Hainanese Chicken Rice (Whole Chicken - Complex)
INGREDIENTS
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| Chicken | 900g / 2 lbs | Cleaned and dry brined ~ 6 - 24 hrs |
| Salt | 18g / 1 tbsp | For dry brining. Use more if you like it saltier. 2% of chicken weight. |
| Ginger | 20g / 0.7 oz | Optional, Minced |
| Sesame Oil | 15ml / 1 Tbsp | Rubbed on Cooked Chicken before serving |
| Below quantities in italics are variable, quantities given are suggestions | ||
| Chicken Soup | (Optional Aromatics) | |
| Ginger | 20g / 0.7 oz | Sliced 5mm thick |
| Spring Onion / Scallions | 20g / 0.7 oz | Rough Chop |
| Cucumber | As you like | Sliced |
| Carrot | As you like | Rangiri |
| Onion | As you like | Strips |
| Celery | As you like | Cubed |
| Chicken Rice | ||
| Rice | 100g | Make more if you have more people. |
| Ginger | 10g /0.35 oz | 2.5cm / one inch knob chunk sliced into 5 slices, 5mm /1/5 Inch thick |
| Garlic | 4 cloves | Peeled and sliced into 2mm / 1/16 Inch thick |
| Pandan Leaf | Two strips | Tied in a knot, add to rice cooker (optional) |
| Ginger Scallion Oil (Sauce) | ||
| Ginger | 10g /0.3 oz | 2.5cm /1 inch knob, Finely diced / Grated |
| Spring Onion / Scallions | 40g / 1.1 blintz | 4 stalks Finely diced / Grated (the white parts have a stonger flavor) |
| Garlic | 4 cloves | Finely diced / Grated |
| Salt | 2g / 0.034mols | 1/4 tsp, more if you like |
| Sugar to Taste |
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| Minced Chili (Sauce) | ||
| Red Chili | to taste | Minced / fine sliced all |
| Birds Eye Chili | to taste | or better still, pounded in |
| Garlic | to taste | a mortar and pestle |
| Ginger | to taste | |
| Salt | to taste | |
| Sugar | to taste | |
| Lime juice | to taste | |
EQUIPMENT
Large soup pot that contains enough water to comfortably submerge your chicken(s)
Rice cooker
Ice Bath
Cooking Twine (50cm / 20 inches) / Chicken hooks (optional)
CLEAN / PREP / DRY BRINE
a) Clean the chicken by rubbing the chicken with salt, especially the inside cavity of your chicken. This removes any possible gunk on the skin, and also cleans out the any blood or leftover organs from the cavity, making everything taste cleaner. Rinse the chicken when done.
The raw chicken can be dipped in boiling water before doing this to reduce chances of salmonella. Salmonella bacteria on the surface of the chicken would be killed by dipping it in boiling water (at any temperature above 73°C). Use an ice bath or cold water bath to cool the chicken down after, to save time.
The raw chicken can be dipped in boiling water before doing this to reduce chances of salmonella. Salmonella bacteria on the surface of the chicken would be killed by dipping it in boiling water (at any temperature above 73°C). Use an ice bath or cold water bath to cool the chicken down after, to save time.
b) Dry brine the chicken by rubbing it all over (including the cavity) with salt (2% of chicken weight), then placing it in the fridge for 4-8 hours. The chicken can be stored safely in the fridge for 1-2 days (salmonella growth takes 2 days to grow to hazardous levels at fridge temperatures), but if you plan on doing that, use less salt.
- Optionally, you can also place some of your soup aromatics (scallions, & ginger) into the cavity of the chicken ahead of time*. Minced ginger can also be rubbed in the cavity of the chicken*.
- FUTURE EXPERIMENTATION NOTE 1* - test if having aromatics in chicken improves the taste of the chicken. (RESULT - Stuffing aromatics in the chicken seem to result in parts of the chicken being under cooked, probably because the stuffing impedes water movement).
COOKING
CHICKEN
10 min active - 40 Minutes Cooking (checking on it after 15-20min)
10 min active - 40 Minutes Cooking (checking on it after 15-20min)
1) Boil a large pot of water, along with your optional aromatics. You can also use chicken stock, which will make everything taste more aromatic, and also leave you with a stronger leftover chicken stock for next time. Adjust your chicken brine salt content accordingly if your stock is salted.
2) Rinse your chicken and remove excess skin and fat (mainly from the neck and rear of the chicken). Save this for flavoring your rice later. For time optimization, start rendering your chicken oil now.
3) Gently lower the chicken into the boiling water.
Use chicken hooks to keep the chicken suspended in the water, or tie a piece of cooking twine around the chicken.
Suspending the chicken makes it cook more evenly, as parts of the chicken touching the bottom of the pot may over cook.
It is traditional to dip the chicken into the boiling water three times* before submerging the chicken completely. Some say it prevents air bubbles from being trapped in the chicken cavity.
Use chicken hooks to keep the chicken suspended in the water, or tie a piece of cooking twine around the chicken.
Suspending the chicken makes it cook more evenly, as parts of the chicken touching the bottom of the pot may over cook.
It is traditional to dip the chicken into the boiling water three times* before submerging the chicken completely. Some say it prevents air bubbles from being trapped in the chicken cavity.
- FUTURE EXPERIMENTATION NOTE 2* - Test how much of a difference this makes
- Dunking it up and down seems to drive air bubbles out of the cavity.
4) Using a low flame, SIMMER the water for 15-20 minutes, then turn the fire off. (insert a kitchen thermometer in the thickest part of the meat to check if it's done ~ 73°C / 165°F).
More adventurous eaters who want very tender chicken, and are sure that their chicken is salmonella free can lower this temperature threshold to 63°C / 145°F, as we will leave the chicken in the hot water for another 10 - 20 minutes. More details in the geeking out section below )
More adventurous eaters who want very tender chicken, and are sure that their chicken is salmonella free can lower this temperature threshold to 63°C / 145°F, as we will leave the chicken in the hot water for another 10 - 20 minutes. More details in the geeking out section below )
5) After turning the fire off, leave the chicken in the hot water for 10-20 minutes
6) Once the chicken has reached the ideal temperature, plunge it into an ice bath for 10 minutes to stop cooking. This creates a layer of gelatin under the skin of the chicken, but don't worry about it too much.
6) Once the chicken has reached the ideal temperature, plunge it into an ice bath for 10 minutes to stop cooking. This creates a layer of gelatin under the skin of the chicken, but don't worry about it too much.
7) When chicken has cooled rub sesame oil on the chicken skin, then hang the chicken to dry (or preferably on a rack in the fridge)
8) Debone the chicken before serving, throwing the bones back into the soup pot. Garnish with slices of cucumbers.
SOUP
~20 Min (Depends on size of pot, amount of water etc).
~20 Min (Depends on size of pot, amount of water etc).
1) Bring the water that you used to cook the chicken to a boil, reducing it by at least half.
Taste for aroma, keeping in mind that flavors will intensify more when it cools down.
Taste for aroma, keeping in mind that flavors will intensify more when it cools down.
- Optionally, add more aromatics / vegetables into the soup if you like. Other simple soup ingredients are turnip/radish, or chopped lettuce.
RICE
| Rice | 100g | Make more if you have more people. |
| Ginger | 10g /0.35 oz | 2.5cm / one inch chunk sliced into 5 slices, 5mm / /1/5 Inch thick |
| Garlic | 4 cloves | Peeled and sliced into 2mm / 1/16 Inch thick |
10-15 min + However long it takes for your rice cooker to cook rice.
1) Slice the excess skin and fat (that you previously removed from the chicken) into manageable pieces.
2) Render the oil from skin and fat, by heating it up gently in a small saucepan. Depending on how fatty your chicken is, and how aggressively you trim your chicken, you should aim to render 1-2 table spoons of oil. You should use a very low flame to slowly render the fat without burning the solids.
- Optionally add some cooking oil to this if your chicken is very lean or just substitute cooking oil if you forgot to remove the fat and skin from your chicken. Top it up to 1-2 table spoons of oil.
3) Gently fry the ginger and garlic in this rendered fat for 10-15min, until everything is golden brown and delicious. The chicken skin and fat will take the longest, and you can remove the garlic slices preemptively if they darken too quickly.
- WARNING - Do not step away from the fire at this stage. It will take some time to brown, then almost immediately turn from brown to burnt in an instant, and you will have to throw away the oil. Watch it carefully, stirring often stop it from burning. Remove any pieces that darken too quickly.
4) Once the aromatics have browned, remove all the solids, and save half of the oil for the ginger & scallion sauce later. You should have 1/2 - 1 table spoon of oil for toasting the rice.
- Optional - The fried chicken skin and garlic chips will turn crispy if you let it cool for a few minutes and taste amazing, especially if the garlic is thinly (2mm/1/16 Inch) sliced. Chopped up into small bits, it makes a delicious (but high caloric) topping for the rice, or it can be served as a side for those who are watching their cholesterol (go up). Remove any dark bits, as they will taste bitter.
5) Pour your rice into the saucepan, and lightly toast the rice for 2 minutes. This will imbue your rice with a nutty aroma and a golden hue.
6) Cook the rice as you normally would (skipping the starch washing step, as the toasting process cooks off the surface starch), in a rice cooker, using the chicken soup instead of water to double down on that chicken flavor.
- Optionally, add some chicken powder to the water. A few slices of ginger or crushed garlic in the rice cooker will also help flavor the rice.
SAUCES
THE GINGER SCALLION OIL SAUCE
| Ginger | 10g /0.3 oz | 2.5cm /1 inch, Finely diced / Grated |
| Spring Onion / Scallions | 40g / 1.1 blintz | 4 stalks Finely diced / Grated |
| Garlic | 4 cloves | Finely diced / Grated |
| Salt | 2g / 0.034mols | 1/4 tsp |
5 min
1) Mix the minced ginger & scallion & salt in a heat proof bowl (garlic is not traditionally added, but I like that added garlic aroma). More or less salt can be added to taste, keeping in mind that it will taste saltier when it cools down.
2) Heat up the oil (rendered & flavored chicken fat) that you previously saved, and heat it up till BEFORE it just begins to smoke. Use cooking oil if you forgot to save the chicken fat.
3) CAREFULLY AND SLOWLY pour it into your bowl of minced ginger & scallions. It will bubble and hiss. Taste for saltiness after it has cooled.
4) For a more traditional Ginger Sauce, omit the scallions. Add sugar and rice vinegar to taste. Chicken broth can be used to water down an overly thick sauce.
5) Change the ratios to suit your own tastes. Most chicken rice stalls in Singapore seem to have their own "specialty" sauce.
4) For a more traditional Ginger Sauce, omit the scallions. Add sugar and rice vinegar to taste. Chicken broth can be used to water down an overly thick sauce.
5) Change the ratios to suit your own tastes. Most chicken rice stalls in Singapore seem to have their own "specialty" sauce.
MINCED CHILI SAUCE
| Red Chili | to taste | Minced / fine sliced all |
| Birds Eye Chili | to taste | or better still, pounded in |
| Garlic | to taste | a mortar and pestle |
| Ginger | to taste | |
| Salt | to taste | |
| Sugar | to taste | |
| Lime juice | to taste |
5 min
1) Mince the chili, garlic, and ginger together, with a splash of calamansi or lime juice. Salt and sugar to taste. Use a mortar and pestle for authenticity.
HAINANESE CHICKEN SOY SAUCE
**Store Bought**
1) This is a thick, dark and slightly sweet soy sauce that's usually served with chicken rice in Singapore. I recommend Tiger Brand Chicken Rice Dark Soy Sauce. From these guys. Unfortunately, they don't seem to sell it on Amazon, and I've been having a hard time finding it outside of Singapore.
Some people might prefer kecap manis, which is sweeter. I'm still trying to figure out what exactly is Chicken Rice Dark Soy sauce made of. I've seen some recipes for mixing molasses or caramelized rock sugar with dark soy, but I haven't been able to recreate anything that's comparable to the store bought stuff.
If anybody has a good recipe for thick dark chicken soy sauce, please share.
**Store Bought**
1) This is a thick, dark and slightly sweet soy sauce that's usually served with chicken rice in Singapore. I recommend Tiger Brand Chicken Rice Dark Soy Sauce. From these guys. Unfortunately, they don't seem to sell it on Amazon, and I've been having a hard time finding it outside of Singapore.
Some people might prefer kecap manis, which is sweeter. I'm still trying to figure out what exactly is Chicken Rice Dark Soy sauce made of. I've seen some recipes for mixing molasses or caramelized rock sugar with dark soy, but I haven't been able to recreate anything that's comparable to the store bought stuff.
If anybody has a good recipe for thick dark chicken soy sauce, please share.
TODO - THAI CHICKEN SAUCE
I'm testing out some recipes now. Coming soon (looking for soy bean paste in HK)
Step by Step Photo Guide - Thanks to Catlyco for the photos
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| Chicken is dry brined overnight, then trussed up and boiled the next day. Controlling for the salt makes sure the chicken is not too salty. The string makes it easy to maneuver the chicken, and ensure that the chicken is not resting on the bottom of the pot. Dunking the chicken gently into the water several times gets rid of the air bubble in the cavity. Flavor your soup with aromatics, or use chicken stock to additional flavor. |
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| Excess chicken skin and fat is removed, shown with some garlic and ginger. |
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| Render the oil from the chicken skin and fat, and fry it with garlic and ginger. Shallots are optional. Saving some oil for the sauce later, fry raw rice grains in the flavored oil, then cook rice as normal, using some chicken soup instead of water. |
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| Fried chicken skin and garlic can be served with rice. Finely chop spring onion, onion, garlic and ginger, then carefully pour boiling oil on it. Salt to taste. |
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| Portion chicken accordingly, serve with your preferred sauces. |
COOKING SCIENCE / GEEKING OUT
Factors that enhance the tenderness / juiciness of chicken
Brining : For longer brines, I tend to use 1% salt (of the total mass) as a guideline, and use a wet brine for even brining. I feel that dry brining leads to a more flavorful chicken, as the wet brining dilutes the flavor of the chicken. For wet brining, I usually submerge 900g of chicken with ~250ml of water using 11.5g of salt (using a 5% salt solution, with 1% of salt in total) in a food safe bag, using chilled water, and brining for 3-8 hours in the fridge.
Further Reading
Useful Tools
Cooking Temperature for Chicken:
Chicken is considered fully cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 74°C / 165°F, but pasteurizing chicken is also a function of time and temperature.
The main concern here is salmonella, and J. KENJI LÓPEZ-ALT at serious eats has done a great job explaining various temperature / time for chicken breasts.
V K Juneja 's team has also done a research paper on the subject, and Scientific America has an excerpt here of the food chapter from the amazing Nathan Myhrvold's Modernist Cuisine
THINGS TO TRY NEXT
1) Steaming the chicken
2) Soaking the chicken in a cold chicken soup brine before serving.
Mandatory cat tax - Kit is one chilled cat
Cat Tip - Supplement your cat's diet with a treat of raw chicken wing tips or neck!
Cat Tip - Supplement your cat's diet with a treat of raw chicken wing tips or neck!
It was very tender and the taste was spot on. I can't find any fault with it!
ReplyDeleteThe recipe reads very well and you make it seem very straightforward to cook this dish. Good stuff!!
ReplyDelete