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Recipe: Singapore-style Hainanese Chicken Rice

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One of Singapore’s most famous dishes, Hainanese Chicken Rice is a must-try for people all around the world when they visit. If you are local and have already tried the best spots, why not consider making it yourself by following our recipe below.

Singapore-style Hainanese Chicken Rice

Singapore-style Hainanese Chicken Rice

Recipe by avni
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

30

minutes
Cooking time

40

minutes

Ingredients

  • For rice

  • 3 rice cups white jasmine rice, uncooked

  • 3 tbsp. oil

  • 3 cups chicken stock

  • 2 tbsp. chopped garlic

  • 6 cloves of garlic

  • 1 1/2 tbsp. grated ginger

  • 8 pandan leaves – separated into 2 bundles

  • 1 1/2 tsp. salt

  • For Hainanese Chicken

  • 1-1.2 kg chicken

  • 3 litres water to submerge the whole chicken

  • 5-6 slices ginger

  • 1 basin ice water

  • 2 tbsp. sesame oil

Instructions

  • Preparing the rice
  • Wash the rice and soak for 20 minutes then drain dry for another 20 minutes and set aside.
  • Peel the garlic and ginger.
  • Grate the ginger and chop the garlic, then set aside.
  • Preparing the chicken
  • Clean the chicken and remove any excess fat or skin
  • Wash the 2 bunches of spring onions. Cut off the white sections and set aside
  • Slice the green sections into small pieces and keep for garnish
  • Insert the 6 slices of ginger, the white section of the spring onion and 1 bundle of pandan leaves into the cavity of the chicken. Use a few toothpicks to seal up the cavity to prevent the stuffing from falling out during cooking
  • Cooking
  • Add 3 litres of water to a tall pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, hold the chicken by the neck and dunk the whole chicken in and out of the boiling water 3 times. On the final dunk, finally, immerse the whole chicken into the water and cover the pot.
  • Once the water is boiling turn the heat to low. Let the chicken simmer for another 10 minutes, then turn off the heat but do NOT open the lid of the pot. Let the chicken continue to stew in the hot water for another 35 minutes.
  • Once the chicken is cooked, use a pair of chopsticks to lift it out of the pot from under the wings, then plunge it into the ice water for about 20 minutes to stop the cooking process.
  • Remove the chicken and transfer onto a plate. Pat chicken dry with a paper towel and then rub the whole chicken with 2 tbsp. sesame oil.
  • Cook the Chicken Rice: add in the grated ginger and chopped garlic into a small fry pan, and fry till aromatic. Once aromatic, immediately add in the washed and drained the rice and the 1 1/2 tsp of salt, and mix well.
  • Transfer the rice mixture into a rice cooker. Pour in the 3 cups of chicken stock. Place the second bundle of pandan on top of the rice for extra fragrance. And set to cook.
  • Once the rice is cooked, remove the pandan leaves and loosen the rice with a pair of chopstick.

Plating: 

When the chicken is done, remove the stuffing from the chicken, chop into pieces and arrange on a serving plate. Garnish with parsley and sliced cucumber and serve with the rice, dark soy sauce, chilli sauce and spring onion oil.

Try this recipe and discover more chicken dishes on foodpanda!