Hainanese chicken rice recipe with a Brazilian twist

Hainanese chicken rice

This iconic Singaporean dish has been on my wish list for ages!  I always wanted to eat Hainanese chicken rice but never had the opportunity. So I decide to look around the net, and I found an enticing recipe. Gosh!!!  this was a delicious feast!

Hainanese chicken rice,  the rich flavour of the rice comes from the chicken fat and the fresh chicken broth. The chicken is gently poached whole and in some cases, I heard, steamed. The dish is traditionally accompanied with chilli sauce made up of chilies, chicken broth, garlic, and ginger. A thick broth of chicken stock garnished with a sprinkle of spring onions is also a must. This recipe has origins in Southern China, early Chinese immigrants originally from the Hainan province adapted the well known Wenchang chicken recipe.

My twist on this recipe: I used Brazilian chilies (I am Brazilian after all!)  and  add a bit of fresh and zing by adding fresh lime juice and zest to the ginger sauce.

Hainanese chicken rice recipe with a Brazilian twist

Serves: 6, very hungry people
time: approx 2 hours

There are 4 parts to this amazing recipe:
Part 1: Poaching the chicken (65mins)
Part 2: Cooking the Fragrant Rice (15mins)
Part 3: Chicken Soup for the Soul (assembly only – 5 mins)
Part 4: Sauces, an important part of this dish (3 sauces from scratch approx. 20-30mins)

Part 1, THE CHICKEN
Ingredients
1 Large family size chicken (whole) – gutted and cleaned
4 Spring Onion stalks
2 Carrots (halved)
5-6 cloves of Garlic (whole)
5-6 slices of Ginger (5mm thick)
2 Tbsp of Light Soy Sauce
Handful of Kosher or any coarse Salt (chicken exfoliation)
Mix 1 Tbsp of Sesame Oil + 1/2 Tbsp of Light Soy Sauce

Method
1)Trim off any excess fat and skin from the chicken and keep it aside (this will be used for the rice in Step 2).
2) Grab a handful of salt and rub on the chicken to exfoliate it. Give your chicken a facial!
3) Boil a large  and deep pot of water (that can fit a whole chicken) with the carrots and 2 spring onion stalks.
4) Rub chicken cavity with light soy sauce. Fill it with garlic cloves, ginger slices and remaining 2 spring onion stalks.
5) Carefully put chicken into the large pot (breast-side down) and lower the heat and let it simmer for 15 minutes uncovered. Switch heat off, cover with lid and let it stand in the pot for 40 minutes. Alternatively, you if you have meat thermometer insert in the thickest part (i.e. leg) and when it reached 87C is ready.  I tried both methods work well.
6) Take out chicken and put into a cold bath.
7) Take the chicken out of the cold bath and empty the cavity. Rub all over with a mixture of sesame oil & light soy sauce.
8) Leave to rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting into desired pieces.
9) Pour a mixture of 60ml hot chicken stock + 1 Tbsp of Sesame Oil + 2 Tbsp of Light Soy Sauce over the chicken pieces just before serving.

Rendering of the chicken fat:  while the chicken is gently boiling, render the chicken skin to get the oil out for the rice and sauces.
Put all the trimmed chicken fat and skin in a wide pot or pan. Heat the chicken parts over a  medium-high heat, gradually the melted fat at the bottom of the pot and the skin look fried and amber gold. Switch off the heat and reserve. There will be enough for this recipe only.

Part 2 – THE RICE

Ingredients
2 cups of Long Grain Rice
2 Tsp of Salt
5-6 slices of Ginger (2-3mm thick)
2 cloves of Garlic (finely diced)
2 1/4 cups of Chicken Stock
1 Pandan Leaf (knotted)
2 Tbsp of Chicken fat with skin attached (obtained by trimming excess fat from chicken)
2 Tbsp of Oil

Pandan leaves

Method
1) Wash the rice.
2) In a pan, pour 2 Tablespoons of the chicken oil. Add garlic and ginger and fry until fragrant under medium heat. Add rice and 1 teaspoon of salt and continue to fry for another 2 minutes. Transfer all ingredients into a rice cooker, if you have one. If not, keep in the pan and cook as you would normal rice. Add chicken stock and Pandan leaf* and cook rice until done.
* – bought them in Chinatown (London)

Part 3, THE SOUP

Ingredients
Chicken Stock from poaching the chicken
1 tsp of Salt
Few dashes of Ground White Pepper

Method
1) Boil poaching stock (from step 1)
2) Season with salt and pepper. Simmer or keep warm on very low heat until ready to serve.
3) Garnish with spring onion slices and coriander leaves when serving.

Part 4, THE SAUCES WITH A TWIST

CHILLI SAUCE
Ingredients for the Chilli Sauce
1 whole Malagueta chilli (Brazilian chilli) is very hot, so one is enough
2 cloves of Garlic, finely diced
4 thin slices of Ginger
1 Tbsp of Lime Juice
1 tsp of Caster Sugar
1 Tbsp of Chicken Stock
1 tsp of Chicken Oil (obtained from rendered chicken fat)
Pinch of Salt (to taste)

Mix all the ingredients and place into a bowl ready to serve.

GINGER AND LIME SAUCE
Ingredients for the Ginger and Lime Sauce
40g of Ginger, finely diced
1 clove of Garlic, finely diced
2 Tbsp of Spring Onion, finely slice
1 Tbsp of lime juice and 1/2 zest
1 Tbsp of Chicken Stock
1 tsp of Chicken Oil (obtained from rendered chicken fat)
Pinch of Salt (to taste)

Mix all the ingredients and place into a bowl ready to serve.

This recipe is based on, and some parts adapted from Singaporean Mom Blog  by Irene So (http://singaporemomblogs.com/babble/hainanese-chicken-rice-recipe/)

Hainanese chicken rice recipe with a Brazilian twist