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Chicken Rice - Dish found in Malaysia and Singapore, called Hainanese chicken rice. Easy and delicious chicken rice recipe.
Table of Contents
You know that someone is a serious and great cook when she tirelessly perfects her recipes even though it means that the family has to eat the same dish over and over again, Sherie of Maameemoomoo is just that with her Hainanese chicken rice recipe, a popular dish in Malaysia and Singapore.
Maameemoomoo food blog is one of the finalists of Singapore Blog Award; it beckons with mouthwatering recipes and gorgeous photography, one that is sure to stir up your appetite.
Please welcome Maameemoomoo to Rasa Malaysia with her perfect Hainanese chicken rice recipe. Enjoy!
Truth be told, I got to know about Rasa Malaysia quite sometime ago back in 2006 from one of my favourite food blogs then. All these years, I’ve been silently supporting Bee without her knowing but now, errrmmm… not so silently anymore aye? :)
When Bee invited me to do a guest post for her last month, I was elated but at the same time, a little worried…
Why?
Just take a look at the Bee’s recipe index. I doubt that there is any Malaysian/ Singaporean dish that has not been featured on Rasa Malaysia already.
Fortunately, 1 out of 2 suggestions suggested got Bee thrilled and she was quick to agree to it because she hasn’t featured this particular dish, yet.
Hainanese chicken rice is a dish of Chinese origin most commonly associated with Hainanese Cuisine, Malaysian Cuisine and Singapore Cuisine. It is based on the well-known Hainanese dish called Wenchang chicken (文昌雞).
Don’t be surprised though, if you find the chicken rice served in Hainan, China is different from what you can find in Southeast Asia. Over the years, adaption has been made by the Chinese Hainanese clan who migrated to Southeast Asia which resulted today’s Hainanese chicken rice in Singapore and Malaysia.
Being a Hainanese myself, I often eat this when I was growing up. My mother has this ultra soft-spot for this dish, perhaps, because it is the only Hainanese dish which she can whip up perfectly. Tee hee hee!
So, how do you define a good plate of chicken rice?
You might be shocked to know that each and every one of us defines it differently. While a bowl of kick-ass rice works for me, some may think it is the oh-so-tender-chicken pieces with its silky smooth skin, or some, it is the one-of-its-kind-chili sauce.
I say, whatever works for you and that is that.
Before this, due to my non-existent chopping chicken skill, I usually cut the chicken into just 4 sections and let the children tear the meat off by themselves.
However, ever since I promised Bee that I’ll produce a decent looking plate of chicken rice for her, my poor family had been consuming chicken rice for almost 5 weeks consecutively for the past month!
Thankfully on my 5th attempt, I managed to get a plate of OK-looking chicken pieces and i thought that was the end of my chicken rice meal for the next 3 months at least, but guess what?
I’ve just been sent a request to cook this dish on Sunday for my partner’s family and his beloved sister who would be back from the States for a short holiday!
Guess it’s not that easy to get bored of Hainanese chicken rice eh?
What To Serve With Chicken Rice
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Chicken Rice
Ingredients
For the rice
- 3 cups uncooked washed rice
- 5 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 cloves finely chopped garlic
- 4 finely chopped shallots
- 2.5 cups chicken broth, + 2 tbsp
- 4-6 blades of pandan leave, screwpine leaves
- 1 small thumb of ginger, cleaned and bruised
- 1 tbsp garlic and shallot oil
- 70 g (2½ oz) chicken fats
- 1.5 tsp salt, to taste
For the chicken
- 1 whole chicken, preferably free range organic chicken
- 1 small thumb of ginger, cleaned and bruised
- 5-6 stalks of scallion, washed
- 10 bowls chicken stock, adjust accordingly
- 4 blades of pandan leaves, screwpine leaves
- 1 carrot, roughly chopped
- 3 tsp salt
- 10 bowls cold water
- 1 cucumber, peeled, halved and sliced diagonally
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp chicken broth
- 3 tsp sesame oil
- 3 tsp garlic and shallot oil
For chicken rice chilli sauce
- 90 g (3 oz) red chilies, you may add in some bird's eye chili
- 15 g (½ oz) garlic
- 50 g (1¾ oz) ginger
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 50 ml chicken broth
- 60 ml lime juice, to taste
To garnish
- Few sprigs of cilantro
Instructions
For the chicken
- Wash the chicken and drain it well. Stuff the ginger and scallions into the cavity of the chicken. Using 2 teaspoons of salt, rub the salt all over the chicken for smooth-looking skin.
- In a suitably sized stockpot that fits the chicken perfectly, bring the chicken stock to a boil along with the pandan leaves, carrot, and salt. Submerge the whole chicken, breast side down, in the boiling water for 35-45 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken. Immediately lower the heat to a gentle simmer.
- When the chicken is cooked, remove it and plunge it into prepared cold water for 10 minutes. Reserve the chicken broth for later use. Drain the chicken, discard the ginger and scallions from the cavity, and set it aside to cool before chopping it into the desired serving size.
For the rice
- Heat oil in a wok and fry the chopped shallots and garlic until fragrant and golden in color. Add the rice and stir well. Transfer the rice mixture to a rice cooker.
- Once transferred, add the chicken broth, pandan leaves, ginger, garlic, shallot oil, chicken fat, and salt to the rice mixture. Cook according to the rice cooker's manual instructions.
To prepare chicken rice
- Line a serving plate with cucumber slices. Arrange the chicken pieces on top, pour the prepared sauce over them, and garnish with cilantro.
- Serve with chicken rice, side soup, and chicken rice chili sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This looks amazing
Dear Rasa, I have tried the penang chicken rice from Hawker stalls in Penang. I believe it is roast chicken but not steam chicken. Do you have the recipe for that dish? thanks
Poyee
It’s actually fried chicken I love it, too but don’t really know the secret recipe, yet. :(
Hi,
Thanks for the recipe, I made my chicken rice base on your recipe (modified a little bit).
I love chicken rice, since I live in Batam (Indonesia), near Singapore so that very easy to find chicken rice here. But I want to make my own chicken rice.
After searching chicken rice recipes on the internet, I think your recipe very close with chicken rice usually I buy here. Glad to find rasa malaysia.
Hey…just want to let you know, I posted my chicken rice recipe on my blog and link back to rasa malaysia.
Thanks for sharing,
Monica
I just tried this recipe last night and my husband loved it! I wasnt able to get screwpine leaves (no major asian supermarket in Idaho, unfortunately), but the taste was still very good! Thank you for sharing :-)
1) under for rice. Ingredients, is the finely chopped garlic + shallot used for garlic/shallot oil or used for frying before adding the rice?
Thank you.
Hi, I tried your recipe yesterday and am glad it turned out fabulous. My gal loved the chicken rice a lot. Will deginitely cook for my family again. Thanks a lot for all your wonderful recipes!
Have made this recipe a few times. It is fairly easy for Singaporean style food, and the broth is the stuff dreams are made of. I use the broth as a seasoning with ramen noodles, and have an absolutely awesome lunch as well.
hi, iam thinking of trying this recipe. iam a big fan of chicken rice ever since i tried it from malaysia. i just want to ask for the sauce, is it ok to put normal soya sauce instead of light soya sauce? will that make a big difference in taste?or is there a way i can use the normal sauce so that its like the lighter version?
Yes, it’s the same.
I love the Cook’s Note! He…he..I will practice this recipe soon! Thanks!
I made it tonight, my first attempt ever at Hainanese Chicken Rice. I want to say it is pretty darn close to the best ones I’ve eaten from Singapore hawker centres. I guess the pandan leave is the secret ingredient that makes it complete. Even the soup didn’t taste odd- I added Bak Choy (Napa) to the soup and fishballs. My American husband and 2 boys; 4 and 6 years old ate in and said they were good. Took me about 2 hrs to make it but it’s worth every min of it. Would definitely make it again…thank you for sharing this recipe!