OUR CULINARY GEMS: Singapore Hainanese Chicken Rice

One of Singapore’s contenders for the national dish. Chicken rice can be found in every street corner, coffee shops or restaurants in the Lion City.

This complete “entrée” recipe was brought by Hainanese immigrants from China and evolved into a distinct Singaporean dish.


Try it this weekend and impress your friends!

The recipe is here…


Cooking Time *forever*
Preparation Time Patience is a virtue.
Serves 5-7 really hungry people

Ingredients for the chicken

1 whole Chicken (to be boiled in a large pot of water by itself)
70 ml of Sesame Oil
60 ml of Light Soy Sauce
1 medium sized cucumber
1 sprig parsley
60 ml of Concentrated Chicken Stock (made from boiling chicken bones or from chicken stock concentrate e.g. Maggie chicken stock)

Ingredients for Chicken Stock (Optional)

300 to 500 gm of chicken feet or bones
2 liters of water

Ingredients for the rice

1 Clove Garlic
20 gm Ginger Bruised
4 cups of Thai Fragrant Rice
Cooking Oil
150 gm of chicken fat
Chicken Stock
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Water that was used to boil the chicken (some to be used for cooking the rice, the balance is to be used as a base stock for an accompanying soup)

Ingredients for the condiments

100 gm Ginger
20 gm Galangal (optional)
100 gm red peppers
1 teaspoon chicken oil
20 ml concentrated chicken stock
10 to 15 ml of dark soy sauce for each diner as dip
2 cloves Garlic

Ingredients for Soup to accompany the Chicken rice

Balance of water used to boil the chicken
250 gm of cabbage
20 gm peeled shallots
Spring onion for garnishing


Directions

1. Boil chicken feet or bones for about 2 hours and simmer. Let at least a liter of water evaporate in the process. This makes the stock more concentrated.

2. Clean the dressed chicken. Boil a large pot of water. Make sure to immerse the whole chicken. Boil for 20 minutes. Remove the chicken and let it cool down.

3. Prepare the rice. Fry the uncooked rice in a wok with some of the chicken oil obtained from the fat mixed with cooking oil. Keep on frying in a moderate fire until golden yellow.

Next pour the rice into a pot. Add some chicken stock, salt and the balance of the water required is obtained from the water used to boil the chicken. Add 1 clove crushed peeled garlic and a piece of about 20 gm bruised ginger to the pot. Cook the rice. Serve in a bowl or plate.

4. Back to the chicken. Brush the chicken with sesame oil. The sesame oil also gives a fragrance and flavoring the the chicken. No salt is to be added to the chicken. Debone and cut the white meat into bite size strips.

5. Prepare the condiments. Grind the ginger and galangal (optional) together. Add 5 to 10 ml of concentrated chicken stock, ground peppers and the peeled garlic. They are served separately.

6. Preparing the soup. The soup is then made re-boiling balance of the stock and add equal amount of water. Add the shredded cabbage and peeled shallots. Add salt to taste. Simmer for 15 minutes. Cut the spring onion and garnish the soup.

7. The chicken rice should be served as shown in the picture above. The condiments should used as a dip for the chicken.

Bon appetite!


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