Hainanese Chicken Rice

Last night, I made Hainanese Chicken Rice which is considered the national dish of Singapore using the recipe from Mark Bittman's book How to Cook Everything. It's a 'simple' dish of poached chicken and white rice cooked in chicken broth.


Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, 3 to 4 pounds, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 4 pieces
salt
3 tablespoons of grated garlic
1 big knob of ginger, grated finely
1/4 cup peanut oil or neutral foil (I used canola oil)
2 cups white (jasmine) rice
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
Ginger-Scallion sauce (recipe to follow)
Chopped fresh scallion or cilantro leaves for garnish

Directions:

• Put about 4 inches of water in a large pot over high heat
• Run the inside and outside of chicken with salt and half of the garlic and ginger
• When the water boils, put the chicken in the pot; it should just submerged (if necessary, add water)
• Return to boil, cover and reduce the heat to medium, and cook for 15 minutes
• Turn off the heat and let the bird remain in the water for 1 hour, covered
• The meat should be opaque all the way to the bones; if not, return to pot to a boil and cover again for another 5 - 10 minutes
• Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside

• Put the oil in a skillet over medium heat
• When hot, add the remaining garlic and ginger, stirrin occasionally, until the garlic begins to brown and becomes fragrant, about 2 - 3 minutes
• Add the rice and stir, then add 4 cups of the stock; bring to a boil again
• Adjust the heat to a simmer so that the mixture bubbles gently but steadily, cover
• Cook until the rice has absorbed all the liquid (~20 minutes)
• Taste and adjust the seasoning

• Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces (optional) and rub with sesame oil
• Drizzle some of the Ginger Scallion sauce over it, serve over the rice and sprinkle with scallion or cilantro
• You can also serve serve the (heated) stock with some scallion in a small bowl on the side

Ginger Scallion Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 cup minced (or grated) fresh ginger
1/2 cup chopped scallion
1 or 2 clove garlic, grated
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup peanut oil or neutral oil (I used canola oil)

Directions:

• Mix the ginger, scallion, garlic and salt together in a heatproof bowl
• Put the oil in a small saucepan or skillet over high heat until smoking
• Carefully pour the hot oil over the ginger scallion mixture (Note: it will sizzle a lot)
• Mix well and serve or refrigrate for up to 3 days