Recently I've developed this interest in local dishes. And after a recent visit to the good ol' Yet Con, I thought, there's no better dish to start with than our very own hainanese chicken rice! What goes into making that perfect succulent chicken and that all-so-fragrant rice? I started searching for recipes online and found one that seems easy enough but yet my discerning eye tells me it just might work with some modifications of course.
So off to the supermarket bright and early the hubs and I went today to buy a big fat sakura chicken* and rest of the ingredients to make our homemade chicken rice dinner. I have to say the result is more than satisfying! We don't usually eat rice for dinner, but yet we wiped out 2 cups of rice and 3/4 of the oh-so-juicy chicken! Guess there's nothing better than cooking your own chicken rice and eating it in the comforts of your own home hehe! Oh btw I didn't make the chilli sauce this time round but will want to try to make it the next time. But I did make the freshly grounded ginger sauce which to me is a must with chicken rice.
Ok here's the recipe. Do try it at home. I guarantee you it'll taste so much better than your $2 plate at the hawker centre!
What you need
For the chicken
1 whole chicken (1.5kg)
lots of salt
6" fresh ginger, sliced into 1/4" slices
3 stalks of spring onion, sliced into 3 sections
1 teaspoon sesame oil
For the rice
2 tbsp oil
5 cloves garlic, diced
2 tsp ground ginger
2 cups rice, washed and soaked in water for 10mins
2 - 2 1/2cups reserved chicken poaching broth
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp salt
Let's cook!
Chicken
1. First we must clean the chicken. Rub salt all over the chicken to get rid of any loose skin and dirt. Rinse off and pat both outside and in till very dry.
2. Season generously with salt outside and inside of the chicken. Then stuff the chicken with the ginger and sprint onion.
3. Place the chicken in a large stockpot and fill with cold water to cover by 1". Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn down to low to simmer for at least 30mins, or till chicken is cooked. To test if chicken is cooked, stick a chopstick under the leg and see if the juices run clear.
4. When chicken is cooked through, turn off heat, immediately remove the chicken and place into bath of ice water to cool. This will stop the chicken from cooking further, keep the meat soft and tender and give the skin a lovely firm texture. When the chicken is cooled, rub with sesame oil, chop up and place on serving plate.
Rice
5. To cook the rice, drain off the water from the rice. In a pan, heat up the oil and fry the ginger and garlic till your kitchen smells heavenly.
6. Add the rice and stir to cook for about 2mins. Add the sesame oil and mix well.
7. Transfer to rice cooker pot, add 2 1/2 cups reserved broth and salt and turn on cooker to cook rice.
8. Serve the chicken with the rice, garlic chilli sauce, freshly grounded ginger and heat up some broth for soup. Enjoy!
** Sakura chicken is available at NTUC. It is supposed to have no injections and is all natural. We try as much as possible to buy this chicken even though it's more expensive because it is indeed more succulent and fresher tasting. Btw, this is not a advertisement for sakura chicken haha!
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