Hainanese Chicken Rice
Beautifully tender poached chicken with deliciously moreish rice...definitely, a dish to make again and again.
Ingredients
- 300g chicken thighs cut 3 slits through the skin into the meat
- 90g Hainanese paste we used Waitrose
- 125g uncooked rice we used jasmine rice
- 350ml water
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- finely chopped spring onion
- cucumber peeled, seeds removed and sliced
- dipping bowl of hot sauce we used sriracha
- dipping bowl of dark soy sauce
- chopped coriander to garnish
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken in 10g of paste – place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the cucumber slices – the quantity is up to you – I cut a piece that was approx. 3 inches long for the 2 of us. Peel the cucumber and then cut in half lengthways and use a teaspoon to scrape the seeds out, then slice the 2 pieces of cucumber so that you have a pile of moon-shaped pieces. Set aside in a small bowl for serving.
- Remove the chicken from the fridge, season with salt and pepper.
- Heat a griddle pan or frying pan until hot and then sear the chicken skin side down for 2 to 3 minutes, until the skin is golden.
- Put the rice, water, and the remaining paste in a non-stick saucepan, stir well, and season with salt and pepper.
- Place the chicken skin side up on top of the rice mixture. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until cooked and liquid is absorbed.
- Turn off the heat and leave to stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the finely chopped spring onion and season the rice and chicken to taste and serve.
- Garnish with the cucumber slices and chopped coriander.
- Serve with the dipping bowls of hot sauce and dark soy sauce…if you like! We found that dipping the slices of cucumber into the sriracha was delicious!!
Notes
- The instructions are mainly based on the recipe that was on the label of the jar of Waitrose Hainanese Paste.
- I had googled ‘chicken rice’ and read a couple of recipes and looked at the images and saw how the cucumber slices were presented, along with the addition of the dipping bowls of hot sauce and dark soy.