Easy Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe for Two

Not to be biased here but when it comes to chicken & rice, Hainanese Chicken Rice is the best in the world. Whilst Hainanese Chicken Rice is known as the unofficial national dish of Singapore, Malaysians would immediately come to argue that they were the ones who invented the dish. The fact that this chicken rice dish has got two nations constantly debating over it is a testament to how good the dish is. As a matter of fact, Hainanese chicken rice is so good that it even put hawker stalls in Singapore onto the Michelin map! Yes, you don’t need to be a fancy restaurant to get a Michelin star if you have genuinely good food. Want to try your hand at making this iconic chicken rice at home in an easy & convenient way? Then make sure you save this easy Hainanese Chicken Rice recipe in your books!

Whoever the”real” inventor is, everyone can accept that the recipe for Hainanese chicken rice is adapted from Wenchang Chicken, which is a local speciality dish in the Hainan City of China, by south Chinese immigrants. Each region has its own variation of cooking & flavouring. This is why, in London for example, the Hainanese chicken rice from Rasa Sayang may be a little different to Rice Guys or that at Med Salleh Kopitiam, etc. But the fundamental concept is the same and they’re all mighty delicious.

A plate of Hainanese chicken rice, topped with spring onions ginger sauce

What is Hainanese Chicken Rice

Hainanese chicken rice is basically silky-smooth poached chicken and seasoned rice. The concept is extremely simple. You poach your chicken together with various aromatics at a low temperature. From there, you’ll utilise the chicken fat released and the chicken broth to cook the rice. This will give you an incredibly aromatic & fragrant flavour to the rice. Last but not least, the remaining broth is then lightly seasoned and served on the side as soup. Traditionally, Hainanese Chicken Rice will also be served with a variety of sauces. This usually includes ginger spring onions sauce, seasoned/sweetened soy sauce, and chilli/sambal.

It may not seem like it at first glance but Hainanese chicken rice is a pretty easy & straightforward recipe to make at home. Usually, Hainanese Chicken Rice involves cooking a whole chicken. But if you’re only cooking for very few people/yourself, chicken legs would do the job and are easier to manage for an easy weeknight dinner without compromising on flavours. In this recipe, I’ll be sharing with you how to perfectly poach the chicken, prepare the seasoned rice & soup, and make the ginger spring onions sauce.

How to make Hainanese Chicken Rice for Two

Ingredients You Need

  • Chicken Legs
  • Ginger, Spring Onions, Onion, Garlic – the aromatics
  • Water
  • Jasmine Rice
  • Butter/Animal Fat, Garlic – for cooking the rice
  • Salt – to season the rice & soup
  • White Pepper – to season the soup

Ingredients for making the Spring Onions Ginger Sauce

  • Ginger
  • Spring Onions
  • Sesame Oil
  • Salt
Two poached chicken legs

Recipe Notes

  • This Hainanese Chicken Rice recipe is adapted from Mandy Yin’s Sambal Shiok Cookbook.
  • Chicken leg yields the best results for the recipe. An alternative would be using chicken thighs, which would cook quicker but with slightly less flavour in the broth without the bone.
  • Chicken breast is not recommended. The essence of Hainanese Chicken Rice lies in the fatty content of the chicken, which chicken breast lacks.
  • When poaching the chicken, make sure to switch off the heat once the water started boiling and cover the pot to cook undisturbed. The low temperature is the secret to that signature silky texture and keeps the chicken incredibly tender, moist, and succulent. If you find your chicken turning out tough, that’s because the cooking temperature is too high.
  • An optional step to make the chicken extra good is to plunge it into an ice bath after cooking. This stops the cooking process and locks in the juices of the chicken to make it extra silky & succulent.
  • For the rice, if you can, animal fat would give the best flavour. Traditionally, when using a whole chicken, there will be extra steps in extracting & rendering chicken fat to cook the rice. But in this scenario, I like to use the leftover duck fat that I get from making Rice Guys’ Cantonese Roast Duck meal kit for convenience. If you don’t have animal fat, just use butter.
  • To serve, I serve my Hainanese chicken rice with ginger spring onions sauce (recipe included), kecap manis (i.e. sweetened soy sauce), and chilli oil. Feel free to switch it up with other sauces you like!
A plate of Hainanese chicken rice topped with spring onions ginger sauce, and served with rice, chicken soup, and three sauces

Easy Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe for Two

ET Food Voyage
Make the iconic Hainanese chicken rice at home with this easy recipe, featuring silky poached chicken, seasoned rice & soup, and a delicious ginger spring onions sauce!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine Asian, Chinese
Servings 2 servings
Calories 503 kcal

Ingredients
  

For the poached chicken

  • 2 pieces Chicken Leg
  • 1.2 L Water
  • 30 g Ginger peeled and sliced
  • 4 cloves Garlic peeled and lightly smashed
  • 3 stalks Spring Onions roots removed and chopped into long stems
  • ½ medium Onion chopped into quarters

For the rice

  • 1 cup Jasmine Rice washed & drained
  • 2 cloves Garlic finely chopped
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1 tbsp Butter / Animal Fat

For the soup

  • 2 tsp Salt
  • 1-2 tsp White Pepper
  • A pinch of White Sugar
  • 1 stalk Spring Onion chopped

Ginger Scallion Sauce

  • 30 g Fresh Ginger grated
  • 2-3 stalks Spring Onions chopped
  • 2 tbsp Sesame Oil
  • 1 tsp Salt or more to taste

To serve

  • Kecap Manis / Soy Sauce
  • Sambal / Chilli Sauce

Instructions
 

Poaching the chicken

  • Place all the ingredients for the poached chicken in a large pot and bring it to a boil.
    2 pieces Chicken Leg, 1.2 L Water, 30 g Ginger, 3 stalks Spring Onions, ½ medium Onion, 4 cloves Garlic
  • Skim off any impurities (the white foamy bits) and turn off the heat. Cover the pot with a lid and leave it on the stove, undisturbed, for 40 minutes.
  • After the chicken is cooked, remove from pot and set aside to rest.
    (Optional: place the chicken in an ice bath for about 10-15 minutes for an extra silky texture)
  • Discard the aromatics from the pot and save the broth for both cooking the rice and soup.

Making the Spring Onion Ginger Sauce

  • While the chicken is cooking, you can start prepping the spring onion ginger sauce.
  • Place the grated ginger and chopped spring onions in one bowl.
    30 g Fresh Ginger, 2-3 stalks Spring Onions
  • In a small pan, heat the sesame oil over medium heat for a few minutes until fragrant.
    2 tbsp Sesame Oil
  • Once the oil is heated, immediately pour it over the ginger & spring onions. The hot oil should sizzle when doing so.
  • Season the mixture with salt and mix to combine. Taste & adjust the seasoning accordingly to your liking.
    1 tsp Salt

Cooking the rice

  • While the chicken is resting, melt butter/animal fat in a separate pot over medium-high heat. Saute garlic until fragrant.
    1 tbsp Butter / Animal Fat, 2 cloves Garlic
  • Stir in rice until it's fully coated. Season with salt and add 1 cup of chicken broth.
    1 tsp Salt, 1 cup Jasmine Rice
  • Bring the pot to a boil then turn to the lowest heat. Cover the pot with a lid and let the rice cook for 15 minutes. Do not move/lift the lid during this time.

Preparing the soup

  • Bring the remaining broth to a simmer. Season with salt & white pepper. Taste & adjust the seasoning accordingly.
    2 tsp Salt, 1-2 tsp White Pepper, A pinch of White Sugar
  • Add chopped spring onions to the soup when ready to serve.
    1 stalk Spring Onion

To serve

  • Place the poached chicken and rice together on one plate and serve the soup in a separate bowl. Serve with the ginger spring onions sauce, kecap manis / soy sauce, and chilli / sambal.
    Kecap Manis / Soy Sauce, Sambal / Chilli Sauce

Notes

  • Chicken leg yields the best results for the recipe. An alternative would be using chicken thighs, which would cook quicker but with slightly less flavour in the broth without the bone.
  • Chicken breast is not recommended. The essence of Hainanese Chicken Rice lies in the fatty content of the chicken, which chicken breast lacks.
  • The low temperature is the secret to that signature silky texture and keeps the chicken incredibly tender, moist, and succulent. If you find your chicken turning out tough, that’s because the cooking temperature is too high.
  • An optional step to make the chicken extra good is to plunge it into an ice bath after cooking. This stops the cooking process and locks in the juices of the chicken to make it extra silky & succulent.
  • Traditionally, when using a whole chicken, the chicken fat would be extracted & rendered to cook the rice. For this recipe, I like to use leftover duck fat that I keep in the fridge. Any other animal fat would work. If you don’t have animal fat, just use butter.
  • Feel free to switch up the serving sauces according to your own taste & preference.
Keyword Asian Recipes, Chicken, Chinese Recipes, Easy Recipes, Halal Recipes

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