Hainanese Chicken Rice

Hainanese chicken rice is a popular dish in Chinese restaurants, coffee shops, and food court. You can prepare it at home and eat comfortably with your family. I use a free range chicken for this dish which taste better.

Ingredients: serves 4

1 free range chicken, about 1 1/2 kg
1 Japanese cucumber, sliced
2 liter water
3 cups rice, rinsed and dried
1 tbsp chopped garlic and ginger
2 tbsp margarine
2 screwpine leaves
3 red chillies
1 thumb sized fresh ginger

Method:

Add water to a stockpot and bring to boil. Submerge chicken into boiling water. Bring down heat to simmer for twenty minutes. When chicken is cooked, plunge chicken in cold water for 10 minutes. Remove from the cold water and put aside. submerge the chicken again in the boiling soup and quickly remove chicken. Cut to bite size pieces. Mix 3 tablespoon chicken soup with sesame oil and soy sauce. Drizzle over chicken and garnish with chopped scallions.

Preparing the chicken rice: In a non-stick pan, fry chicken fats with 1 tablespoon cooking oil until crisp and oil has come out from the fat. Add 2 tablespoon margarine and add chopped garlic and ginger and fry for a minute. Put in the rice and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Remove rice from pan into an electric rice cooker. Add enough chicken stock to boil rice. Throw in the screwpine leaves and salt to taste. Cover rice pot and set to boil.

Preparing the chilli sauce: Blend chillies and ginger plus 1 clove garlic. Add salt, lime juice and 2 tbsp chicken stock ( from the boiled chicken).

Serve rice with chicken, cucumber slices and a bowl of soup individually.