National Dish Singapore: Hainanese Chicken Rice (Recipe)
In this article
Hainanese Chicken Rice is poached chicken with rice cooked in the poaching stock, and the rice is what people judge it on. The chicken is plunged into iced water after poaching, which sets the skin into a firm gelatinous layer that Singaporeans consider essential.
About Hainanese Chicken Rice
The dish came from Hainan island with Chinese immigrants and was reworked in Singapore and Malaysia. The chicken is poached below boiling, not boiled, so the flesh stays just barely set.
Three sauces come with it: chilli with lime and garlic, ginger and spring onion paste, and thick dark soy. The chilli sauce is the one that gets argued about.
Ingredients (serves 1–2)
- 1 whole chicken (about 1.2–1.5 kg)
- 2 cups jasmine rice
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 slices ginger
- 2–3 sprigs coriander
- 2–3 spring onions
- Soy sauce and sesame oil
- Chilli sauce and ginger paste (to taste)
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
Shopping for the ingredients
A good free-range bird, since there is nowhere to hide. Jasmine rice, and pandan leaves if you can get them. Chicken fat rendered from the bird is what the rice should be fried in, and it is worth trimming the fat before poaching for exactly this.
Preparing the dish
Poach at 80 to 85°C, never boiling. The water should barely move. Rub the bird with salt first and stuff the cavity with ginger and spring onion. Have a bowl of iced water ready for the moment it comes out.
Step-by-step instructions
- Rub the chicken with salt inside and out and stuff the cavity with ginger and spring onion.
- Lower it into a large pot of water and bring to just below a simmer; poach for 35–40 minutes at 80–85°C.
- Meanwhile, rinse the rice well until the water runs clear, then drain.
- Render the trimmed chicken fat in a pot, add the chopped garlic and ginger and fry until fragrant.
- Add the rice and toast briefly, then pour in the poaching stock and cook until tender.
- Lift the chicken from the pot and plunge it into iced water for 5 minutes, which firms the skin.
- Cut the chicken into serving pieces and brush with sesame oil and light soy.
- Serve with the rice, a bowl of the poaching broth, and the chilli and ginger sauces.
Gluten-free / lactose-free version
The dish contains no dairy. Soy sauce contains wheat; use tamari. The chicken, rice and sauces are otherwise naturally gluten-free.
Tips for vegans and vegetarians
The rice is the interesting part and can be made with a good mushroom stock and a little oil. Serve it with braised tofu and the same ginger and chilli sauces, which carry most of the flavour. It is a real plate rather than a token version.
More tips and tricks
Never let the poaching water boil. Use the ice bath; it is what gives the skin its texture. Cook the rice in the stock and in chicken fat, not oil and water. And serve a bowl of the clear broth alongside, which is standard.
Adapting the recipe to your taste
Soy sauce chicken is the darker alternative. Chicken rice balls are the Malacca version, where the rice is rolled. Extra chilli sauce is the usual request.
Ingredient substitutions
Chicken thighs work for a smaller version. Oil replaces chicken fat at real cost. Pandan leaf in the rice is optional but good.
Drink pairing ideas
Chinese tea, which cuts the fat. Tiger lager. Barley water or chrysanthemum tea are the hawker centre standards.
Serving and presentation ideas
Chicken on one plate, rice on another, broth in a bowl, three sauces in small dishes, cucumber slices under the chicken. That arrangement is fixed and hawker stalls do not vary it.
A bit of history
Hainanese immigrants brought a version of Wenchang chicken to Singapore and Malaysia in the early twentieth century and it became a hawker staple. Singapore and Malaysia both claim it, which occasionally reaches the level of ministerial comment. It anchors Singaporean cuisine.
More recipe ideas
Summary: Hainanese Chicken Rice
Hainanese chicken rice is chicken poached below boiling, iced, and served with rice cooked in the stock. Never boil it, use the ice bath, and cook the rice in chicken fat and broth.
