Hainanese Chicken Rice

Poached chicken with rice cooked in its own stock — Singapore's national dish.

Ingredients

• 1.6 kg Whole chicken
• 3 cups Jasmine rice
• 6 tbsp Ginger
• 8 cloves Garlic
• 6 Spring onions
• 2 Pandan leaf
• 3 tbsp Sesame oil
• 4 cups Chicken stock
• 6 Red chilies
• 3 tbsp Lime juice
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• 3 tbsp Salt
• 1 kg Ice

Method

1. Season the bird — Rub the whole chicken inside and out with salt, then stuff the cavity with ginger and spring onion.
2. Poach gently — Lower into barely simmering water and cook 40 minutes at a bare tremble — never boil, or the meat turns stringy.
3. Ice bath — Plunge the cooked chicken straight into iced water for 10 minutes; this sets the skin into a silky gelatinous layer.
4. Cook the rice — Fry the rice with minced garlic, ginger and chicken fat, then steam it in the poaching stock with pandan.
5. Make the chili sauce — Blend the chilies, garlic, ginger, lime juice, sugar, salt and a little hot stock.
6. Carve — Rub the chicken with sesame oil and chop it through the bone into pieces.
7. Chicken Rice is ready — Serve with the rice, chili sauce, ginger paste and a bowl of the clear stock.

More Singapore recipes

• Chilli Crab
• Laksa