I watched a short clip about the migration timeline of the Hainanese Chicken Rice. It seems like this chicken dish as we know today is quite Malayan. The Hainanese brought with them the Wenchang chicken, but it was too firm and chewy for the locals. The chicken dish was then adapted to the local palette. It’s slow poached, then placed in an ice bath to halt the cooking process which also gives the skin a nice snappy texture. What you have is a very tender chicken with a good bite of the skin.

You’ll also end up with a huge pot of chicken stock to cook your rice with, and the extra can be stored in the fridge for later use (soups, congee, wonton soup…)

Best eaten with a side of garlic, ginger, chilli sauce and spring onion & ginger oil.

Chicken ingredients:
1.5kg good quality chicken
Salt
3 tbsp Chinese rice wine
A bunch of spring onions
7cm length of ginger, sliced
Enough water to cover the chicken
Ice bath

Soy sauce ingredients:
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp Chinese rice wine
1 tsp sesame seed oil
1 tsp garlic oil
1/4 cup chicken stock

Ginger / chilli sauce ingredients:
2 whole red chilies
1 birds eye chili, optional
2 cloves garlic
2 cm ginger
1/2 cup chicken broth
Salt and sugar to taste
Lime juice, optional and to taste

Rice ingredients:
1 1/2 cup rice
Chicken fat
3 slices ginger
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1 pandan leaf, knotted
3 cup chicken stock

Pluck out any feathers on the chicken. Cut off excess fat and save that for the rice. Some chicken are a bit too gamey for me. To naturalize this, I would pour some Chinese rice wine over it. Then rub salt on the chicken to get rid of any extra gunk. Leave aside for 10 minutes.

In a pot large, add in enough water to submerge the bird along with 3 stalks of spring onions and a few slices of ginger. Bring to boil.

When the water is on a rolling boil, turn it down to the lowest flame. We want hot boiling water without the rolling boil. The water must look still.

Wash the bird and stuff the cavity with ginger and as much spring onion as you can. Lower it breast down into the pot. Put the lid on and continue to cook on low flame for 45-50 mins. Poke on the fattest part of the chicken, if the juices run clear, the bird is ready.

Bring it out gently and place it in an ice bath for 10-15 minutes. While the chicken is in the bath, prepare the sauces and rice. Mix the soy sauce components in one bowl and give it a taste. Add more soy if you would like it to be saltier.

As for the ginger / chilli sauce, place all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Lime juice is optional.

For the rice, start by rendering the chicken fat in a pot with 1 tbsp of oil. Then wash the rice and add in the rest of the ingredients. Give it a stir and bring it to a boil. When it is boiling, turn down the heat to a low simmer. Put a lid on and let it cook on low for 20 minutes. Remove the pandan, garlic and ginger. Fluff the rice before serving.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and pat it dry. Slice the chicken and place it on a platter. Spoon the sauce onto the chicken.

Return the bones back into the broth and bring that up to boil to create an amazing broth.