Hainanese Chicken Rice

This Hainanese chicken rice is satisfying and flavourful, while being relatively light. I use this to make a base for chicken stock (usually to make Vietnamese braised pork belly), and it produces a ton of leftovers, so great to make early in the week.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken
1 bunch scallions, topped, tailed, and halved
100 grams ginger, sliced
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons ginger-scallion oil, to serve
(per person) 100 grams jasmine rice

Method:

Generously salt the skin of the chicken and leave to sit for half an hour. Don’t wash raw chicken. Don’t be that guy.
Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the ginger slices and the scallions.
Place the stuffed chicken in a slow cooker or pot, cover with water. Slow cook for 6 hours (low) or 2 hours (high) until a temperature probe reads a solid 74°C in the thickest part.
Remove chicken to rest. Rub or brush skin gently with sesame oil to preserve springiness.
Cook rice using a rice cooker or pot, replacing the requisite water with the chicken elixir (fine…”stock”) you’ve made.
Keep the rest of the stock aside. It freezes well or will keep in the fridge in a deli container for a few days.
For the first service, I like to carve the breast, skin-on, and cut along the length. Serve it alongside rice with a heavy helping of the ginger scallion oil.
Garnish with flaky salt, sesame seeds, soy sauce, parsley, and/or chilli flakes, as desired.
Serve additionally with pak choi, choi sum, or other greens.