Learned to cook Hainanese chicken rice from my mother, whose recipe is similar to the flavoured version made in a rice cooker. After browsing several recipes with different methods, I combined parts of hers with others. Instead of poached chicken, I add leftover fried crispy drumettes and stir-fried chicken pieces from drumstick stock with eggplants, and I added red and yellow capsicum from my sister, who got them from a nearby community box. I also bought cucumber and learned to make chicken rice chili sauce from the recipes I chose.
“Hainanese chicken rice is a dish of poached or roasted chicken served with seasoned rice, chilli sauce, and usually cucumbers, tomato slices, or cilantro. Created by immigrants from Hainan in southern China and adapted from the Hainanese dishes Wenchang chicken and Wenchang chicken rice, it is now found throughout Southeast Asia wherever Hainanese communities settled, particularly in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, where it remains a culinary staple. It is widely considered one of the national dishes of Malaysia and is commonly associated with Malaysian cuisine, being available in most food courts and hawker centres around the country.”
Here’s my version of Hainanese chicken rice that is different from everyone else’s. Glad it was colourful, flavoured with chicken stock, and delicious. Let’s cook it in a rice cooker!!!
Ingredients
Drumsticks stock-for you do advance two day
12 drumsticks
4-6 c water, just enough to cover the drumsticks slightly above 1”
6 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
1 L chicken stock (bought)
2 Tsp chicken powder stock (OPT)
black peppercorns, pound a bit
Fried crispy drumettes-for you do advance one day
3 kg drumettes
1 Tsp black pepper
1/2 Tsp white pepper
1 Tsp garlic powder
2 Tsp salt
1 egg, depending on how much drumettes
4 Tbs cornstarch
2 Tbs plain flour
2 Tsp baking powder
oil (for frying)
Stir-fried chicken pieces with eggplant-for you
20 chicken pieces
1 small, long eggplant, cut to bite sized
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 Tbs minced ginger or ginger powder
2-3 Tbs drumstick stock
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs oyster sauce
1 Tbs Shao Xing Chinese cooking wine
oil
salt
pepper
Chicken rice
75 g butter
8 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
4 inches ginger, chopped finely
2 Tbs soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbs Shoa Xing (Chinese cooking wine)
6 c rice, wash and drain
5 c chicken stock, bought
salt
oil
ajinomoto (OPT)
Garnish
1 red capsicum, cut to bite sized
1 yellow capsicum, cut to bite sized
1 cucumber, cut to bite sized
Chili sauce
4 fresh red chilies, removed seeds
2 inches ginger piece
3 cloves garlic
1 Tsp oil
1/2 Tsp salt
1/4 Tsp sugar
15 ml lime juice, bought
1/2 Tsp white vinegar
2 Tbs drumsticks stock
Method
Drumsticks stock-for you do advance two day
In a pot, add drumsticks, 4 c water and bring it to a simmer on low heat about 35 minutes. As it simmers, skim the foam (impurities) off the top with a fine-mesh skimmer or a spoon. When time up 35 minutes simmering drumsticks stock, strain stock through sieve into another pot. (I usually line it with a muslin cloth).
Add remaining stock ingredients into pot with drumsticks and lower the heat to simmer very gently for 1-2.5 hours. The longer the stock, the more flavour it will have, but the drumsticks will lose flavour. Remove the drumsticks from the pot once it has cooked.
Let drumsticks cool and remove meat from bones and set aside. Keep in an airtight container in fridge. Add in 1 L chicken stock, 1-2 c water; if you want more soup, and powder stock into stock for more flavour. Bring it to boil for about 20-25 minutes and check seasoning. Switch off hob. When the stock had cool completely, store the whole pot in fridge. I like it to be overnight to absorb more flavour.
Note: Extra stocks keep in a sterile bottle and in fridge for about 1-2 weeks. If want to keep in freezer, use triples ziplock bags tripple cling wraps and another plastic bag. Then label name, and date, keep up to 3-4 weeks. I usually used them by 2 weeks.
Fried crispy drumettes-for you do advance one day
Clean drumettes and pat dry with paper towels. Combine drumettes, black pepper, white pepper, garlic powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix everything until drumettes are well-coated. Marinade for 4 hours in the fridge.
Bring out drumettes to room temperature about 20 minutes. When it has come to room temperature, add egg, cornstarch, flour, baking powder and mix again until drumettes are coated. Next heat up a deep frying pan about 2/3 of the way up with oil. After marinating, there will be liquid in the bowl, be sure to mix them completely again. Drumettes should be well coated with a thin batter-like coating. If it still looks too watery, add a bit more cornstarch and flour.
Drop drumettes in gently small batches into the oil and deep: 1 piece at a time, from the batter (allowing any excess to drip back into the bowl) and carefully transfer to the oil. Fry drumettes until crispy and golden brown about 12-15 minutes (the inside should cook thoroughly and remains juicy). Using a slotted spoon lift up a piece of drumette cut a small slit to check if it’s cooked through for each batch.
Then spoon out fried drumettes in batches on a container lined with paper towels to soak up the excess oil. When it not oily anymore plate up onto serving plate.
Note: You can use wings, thigh fillets, or diced chicken breast as popcorns. You can add fish sauce instead of salt, sugar to balance the flavour. I prefer it to be simple. Use 1 large egg only; you may want more egg just add another small egg. This dependent on individual preferences.
Stir-fried chicken pieces with eggplant-for you do on the day
Slice the long eggplant into 1/2-inch pieces. (Optional: sprinkle with a little salt and let sit for 10 minutes to remove excess moisture, then pat dry). In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shao Xing Chinese cooking wine and 1 Tsp oil.
Heat 1 Tbs oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Toss in the minced garlic and ginger, stirring constantly for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the eggplant and cook for 5 to 7 minutes until soft and lightly browned. Add the 20 cooked chicken pieces and the sauce mixture to the saucepan. Add drumstick stock, cover the pan, and let it steam-fry for 2 to 3 minutes until everything is heated through. Remove from heat and plate up.
Chicken rice
Wash and drain rice. In a deep pan add 2 Tbs oil and butter let butter melt. Then add the chopped finely ginger and chopped finely garlic and fry until a little brown, add drained rice and toss around till oil and butter absorbed. Transfer to rice cooker add 5 c chicken stock, 1 1/2 c drumsticks stock, salt, ajinomoto, chicken stock powder, 2 Tbs soy sauce. Stir up well and make sure water level is right (slightly above the rice), then cook it. Turn on the rice cooker and let it cook. When rice cooker shuts off, remove the lid and let it sit for about 10 more minutes. Then fluff the rice with the rice plastic ladle.
Chili sauce
Grind the chilies, ginger, and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. You will probably have to scrape down the sides of the food processor 1-2 times to ensure everything is ground up evenly. Add the oil, salt, sugar, lime juice, and vinegar to the food processor. Pulse 2-3 times to combine. You can also do this in a mortar and pestle. Transfer to a small bowl and add drumsticks stock. 1 Tbs at a time until a saucy consistency is achieved. This is really about your preference too; if you like a thicker paste, add less stock.
Cut vegetables and assemble
Wash and dry the 2 colours capsicums and 1 cucumber. Cut to bite sized and plate up onto serving plate. Ladle about 2-3 rice ladle onto centre close to the bottom edge of plate. Place 6 cucumbers, followed by 6 of red and yellow capsicum bite sized next to cucumbers. Then 2 fried crispy drumettes and next to drumettes, spoon some stir-fried chicken pieces with eggplant. Drizzle chili sauce onto rice and stir-fried chicken pieces with eggplant. Enjoy with a glass of Pinot Griggs!!!
For me: warmed up fried crispy drumettes and stir-fried chicken pieces with eggplant in microwave for 1-2 minutes. Then plate up as seen on the picture above.
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