Issue 005: Hainan Chicken Rice
Singapore's national dish
This week I’m sharing a recipe for Hainan Chicken Rice, an iconic Malaysian/Singaporean dish. Celebrated as one of the national dishes of Singapore, it was originally brought to the Malay Archipelago by immigrants from the Hainan Province in southern China, with the first chicken rice shops established by Chinese servants – previously employed by British colonials – during the Japanese occupation of Singapore during World War II. A lesson in frugal cooking, Hainan Chicken Rice shows how much you can achieve with a limited selection of ingredients. With little more than a chicken, spring onions and ginger, you can create a delicious and nourishing meal, in which nothing is wasted.
The dish comprises of four main parts: poached chicken, jasmine rice cooked in chicken broth, condiments (ginger and spring onion sauce and chilli sauce) and a bowl of the broth to accompany. The rice is the star of the show, taking on all the flavour and fatty goodness of the chicken broth. Deceptively simple, the unassuming appearance of Hainan Chicken Rice belies its technical preparation and depth of flavour.
Today, the dish is typically sold across Singapore and Malaysia at hawker centres (semi-covered food courts) and from street carts. Known as ‘economy rice’, a simple dish of rice and main designed to make affordable ‘homestyle’ food available outside of the home, it sits alongside a tradition of well-established worker’s lunches from around the world: Brasil’s ‘prato feito’ (literally ‘done dish’, a daily-changing plate of rice, beans, meat and side), India’s tiffins, Japanese bento boxes and the North American ‘blue-plate special’.
The idea of a working lunch has changed significantly during the coronavirus pandemic, our city centres a shadow of their former selves with remote working the new normal. My ‘WFH’ lunches have varied considerably in the weeks and months since lockdown began: I’d often knock together a simple stir-fry of noodles, greens and eggs; chicken salads were a mainstay in the early weeks; frozen dumplings answering my call on days when the fridge was bare. When I cooked Hainan Chicken Rice, I spent all Sunday preparing it, but it provided me with a filling lunch for the next three days…
So, I encourage you to pencil in a date with Hainan Chicken Rice. It goes without saying that you should buy the best quality chicken you can afford – this dish is all about the quality of the delicate flavours and so the ingredients need to match up to the amount of care you’ll be putting into the preparation. The results are immensely rewarding – succulent juicy chicken, flavoursome and comforting rice, washed down with a comforting bowl of hot chicken soup.
Hainan Chicken Rice
I’d like to thank the Instagram chefs whose guidance was invaluable to me in tackling this dish. I followed @londoneater’s lead and used Jeremy Chan’s method of separating the legs from the crown for making my Hainan Chicken Rice. Traditionally the chicken would be poached whole, but this allows for a greater degree of control in the cooking of the meat.
A butcher's hook is required for this dish. A meat thermometer is also helpful, but not essential.
Serves 3-4
Ingredients
1 free-range chicken, approx. 1.5kg
2l of chicken stock, either homemade or shop-bought
7 spring onions
A large piece of ginger, chopped into 1cm chunks, plus 25g kept aside
4 garlic cloves
Cucumber and coriander to serve
Light soy sauce
Shaoshing rice wine
Sesame oil
Course sea salt
Rapeseed oil
Chilli sauce (I used one from Mei Mei London)
White rice vinegar
Method
Clean the skin of the chicken by rubbing with coarse sea salt then rinsing under running cold water.
Separate the wings, legs and back from the crown of the chicken. If you’ve not done this before, this rather entertaining video should help. When removing the legs, be sure to cut through the skin close to the legs, to ensure you leave enough skin to cover the chicken breasts entirely. To remove the back, cut down the diagonal lines of fat on the back of the chicken, then twist to remove.
In a large pot big enough to hold the whole chicken, heat 2 tbsp of rapeseed oil and fry the garlic and ginger (leaving aside 25g for later) until fragrant.
Add 2l of chicken stock and 4 spring onions chopped roughly. Also add the chicken wings, back and fat, then bring to a boil and simmer for 20 mins. Season the broth with soy sauce, Shaoshing rice wine, sesame oil and salt – this should be done to taste, for reference I added about 2.5 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp Shaoshing rice wine, 0.5 tsp sesame oil and a generous pinch of salt.
Set the pot to a low heat and add the chicken legs, dipping them in and out of the broth a couple of times to acclimatise before submerging completely.
Thread the butcher’s hook through the neck cavity and hook it through the back of the crown. Holding the hook, slowly dip the crown into the broth, covering it with the broth and letting liquid fill the cavity. Pull the crown out of the broth, ensure all broth has drained and rest on a plate for one minute. Repeat this dip and rest process five times. After the fifth time, leave the crown in the broth, fully submerged (add hot water if it’s not fully covered) and hooked to the side of the pot. Turn off the heat and cover with a lid.
After 25-30 minutes, remove the crown and use a meat thermometer to check the temperature at the thickest part of the breast – you’re aiming for a temperature of 60-65°c (if you don’t have a thermometer cut into the breast to check the juices run clear). Plunge the crown into the ice bath until it has cooled, to stop the cooking process.
Rub the chicken all over with sesame oil and find a place to hang the crown for an hour. Leave the legs in the broth, covered, for 15 minutes longer than the crown, then plunge them into the ice bath.
While the chicken is hanging, prepare the rice. Wash two portions of jasmine rice until the water runs clear, then place in a saucepan with an equal amount of the chicken broth (or use the finger method). Cut a spring onion in half and lay on top of the rice, then cover with a lid. Bring to light boil, then immediately reduce to a low heat and simmer gently with the lid on until the broth is completely absorbed by the rice.
While the rice is cooking, prepare the ginger and spring onion sauce. Finely chop 25g ginger and two spring onions and place in a bowl. Heat 50ml of rapeseed oil in a pan until very hot, then pour over the ginger and spring onions. Add 1 tbsp of white rice vinegar and stir to combine.
To serve, carve the chicken, slicing the breast crossways into 1cm slices, keeping the skin intact. Fill a small bowl with rice and turn out onto a plate, garnish with coriander and serve with chicken, ginger and spring onion sauce, chilli sauce, cucumber slices and a small bowl or cup of chicken broth. You can also prepare a small dipping bowl with 1 tbsp light soy sauce and 1 tbsp Chinkiang rice vinegar for additional seasoning.
For a visual tutorial, check out the step-by-step documentation of my own attempt on my Instagram Stories highlights.
JW Recommends
Five places to try Hainan Chicken Rice in London:
Mei Mei
Unit 52 Rochester Walk, Borough Market, SE1 9AF
Located in Borough Market, Mei Mei bills itself as a Singaporean kopitiam, serving hawker classics like nasi lemak, kaya toast and Hainan Chicken Rice. You can also buy their sambal and chilli paste by the jar, which I’d highly recommend.
Bugis Street Brasserie
Millennium Gloucester Hotel, 4-18 Harrington Gardens, SW7 4LH
Located on the ground floor of the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in Gloucester Road, this Singaporean restaurant rates highly online and a colleague of mine, who shares my love of Malaysian and Singaporean food, raved about it after visiting earlier in the year.
C&R Café
4 Rupert Court, W1D 6DY
This Malaysian restaurant tucked down an alley in China Town is a go-to of mine - I’ve not tried the chicken rice but if it is as good as their rendang then it is sure to be a winner.
https://www.cnrcaferestaurant.com/
Rasa Sayang
15 Frith Street, W1D 4RE
I’ve not actually visited this China Town stalwart, but as perhaps the most well-known Malaysian restaurant in London it is as good a place as any to head to.
https://www.rasasayangfood.com/
Big Mouth Food Court
280 Sangley Road, SE6 2JT
Singapore’s famous chicken rice in Catford? Yes, please. I was very excited to learn about this new spot via Instagram recently – fellow SE Londoners, take note!
https://www.bigmouthfoodcourt.co.uk/
Music for Cooking To
This week’s playlist is an hour long selection of ambient, tropical and chilled out sounds, ideal for late nights in or slow Sundays in the kitchen.
