Hainanese Chicken Rice

While your chicken is cooking, it helps to prepare the ingredients for your chili sauce and rice. Both of these are usually assembled after the chicken is done because they require the chicken broth, but you can get started washing and soaking the rice, chopping the garlic and ginger. In this recipe, all of the poaching broth is reserved -- some is used in the rice, a small amount is used in the chili sauce, and the remainder is saved to be heated and served as a simple soup to accompany the chicken.

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Ingredients

FOR THE CHICKEN

• 1 whole chicken 3.5 lbs, 1.8kg, preferably organic
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more, for exfoliating
• 4 inch section of fresh ginger peeled and cut into 1/4'' slices
• 2 stalks green onion cut into 1" sections (both green and white parts)
• 1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil

FOR THE RICE

• 2 tablespoons cooking oil like canola, vegetable, peanut
• 2 cloves garlic finely minced
• 1 inch section of ginger finely minced (or grated on microplane grater
• 2 cups long-grain uncooked rice
• 2 cups reserved chicken poaching broth
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

FOR THE CHILI SAUCE

• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 2 tablespoons reserved chicken poaching broth
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons sriracha chili sauce
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 inch section of ginger peeled

FOR THE GINGER GARLIC SAUCE

• 4 tablespoons cooking oil canola, vegetable, grapeseed
• 2 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon rice or white vinegar

FOR THE TABLE

• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• 2 cucumbers thinly sliced or cut into bite-sized chunks

Instructions

COOK THE CHICKEN

1. To clean the chicken, with a small handful of kosher salt, rub the chicken all over, getting rid of any loose skin and dirt. Rinse chicken well, inside and outside. Season generously with salt inside and outside. Stuff the chicken with the ginger slices and the green onion. Place the chicken in a large stockpot and fill with cold water to cover by 1 inch. Bring the pot to a boil over high heat, then immediately turn the heat to low to keep a simmer. Cook for about 30 minutes more (less if you're using a smaller chicken). Check for doneness by sticking a chopstick into the flesh under the leg and see if the juices run clear or insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh not touching bone. It should read 160F. The chicken will continue to cook to 165F during rest.
2.  When the chicken is cooked through, turn off the heat and remove the pot from the burner. Immediately lift and transfer the chicken into a bath of ice water to cool and discard the ginger and green onion. Don't forget to reserve the poaching broth for your rice, your sauce, and the accompanying soup. The quick cooling will stop the cooking process, keeping the meat soft and tender, and giving the skin a lovely firm texture. After cooling, pat the chicken dry with paper towels and rub the sesame oil all over the chicken. This will help prevent the chicken from drying out.

COOK THE RICE

1. Place rice into a large bowl, and fill with water. Use your hands to swish the water around, cleaning the rice. Tilt bowl to discard water, keeping the rice in the bowl Repeat 3 more times, until water is less cloudy. Fill bowl again, with fresh water. Let rice soak for 10 minutes. 
2. In a wok or pot, heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the ginger and the garlic and fry until your kitchen smells like heaven. Be careful not to burn the garlic and ginger! Add in your drained rice and stir to coat, cook for an additional minute. Add the sesame oil, mix well.
3. Add 2 cups of your reserved poaching broth, add salt and bring to a boil. Immediately turn the heat down to low, cover the pot and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit (with lid still on) for 5-10 minutes more.

CARVE CHICKEN

1. While your rice is cooking, remove the chicken from the ice bath and rub the outside of the chicken with the sesame oil. Carve the chicken for serving.

MAKE SAUCES

1. To make the chili sauce: Blend your chili sauce ingredients in a blender until smooth and bright red.
2. To make the ginger garlic sauce: In a small saucepan, heat the cooking oil until very hot, when you start seeing wisps of smoke. Turn off heat. Immediately add garlic and ginger and let it sizzle for a few seconds. Once it settles, stir in salt and vinegar.

SEASON SOUP

1. You should have six or seven cups of the reserved poaching broth left over to serve as soup. Just before serving, heat up the soup, taste and season with salt as necessary.

   Serve the chicken rice with chili sauce, dark soy sauce, cucumber slices, and a bowl of hot broth garnished with cilantro or scallions

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