Indonesian & Malaysian · Lunch · Dinner
Hainanese Chicken Rice
海南鸡饭 (Hǎinán jī fàn)
Silky poached chicken breast over fragrant jasmine rice cooked in its own ginger-garlic broth, served with a zingy fresh chili-lime sauce, cool cucumber and tender bok choy. This lighter take uses skinless chicken and only a spoonful of oil.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Total
- 65 min
- Serves
- 4
Calories come from: Carbs 53% · Fat 16% · Protein 31%
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Ingredients
For 4 servings- 3 medium600 gboneless skinless chicken breasts
- 6 cups1,500 gwater (for poaching and ice bath)
- 5 cm piece30 gfresh ginger, sliced (for poaching)
- 4 stalks60 gspring onions
- 3/4 tsp5 gsalt
- 1 1/2 cups300 gjasmine rice
- 1 tbsp14 gcanola oil
- 4 cloves12 ggarlic, minced (for rice)
- 1 tbsp15 gfresh ginger, grated (for rice)
- 2 leavespandan leaves, knotted (optional)
- 4 medium60 gfresh red chilies
- 3 cloves9 ggarlic (for chili sauce)
- 1 tbsp chopped15 gfresh ginger (for chili sauce)
- 2 tbsp30 glime juice
- 1 tspsugar
- 4 small heads400 gbaby bok choy
- 1 tsp5 gtoasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp16 glow-sodium light soy sauce
- 1 medium200 gcucumber, sliced
- 1/2 cup10 gfresh coriander leaves
Steps
- 1
Pour 5 cups (1250 g) of the water into a large pot and add the sliced ginger, 2 spring onions cut in half and 1/2 tsp of the salt.
- 2
Bring to a boil, add the chicken breasts, then lower the heat so the water barely simmers.
- 3
Poach the chicken gently for 15–18 minutes, until the thickest part reaches 74 °C / 165 °F.
- 4
Mix the remaining 1 cup (250 g) water with a handful of ice in a bowl and plunge the cooked chicken in for 5 minutes to keep it silky; then set aside.
- 5
Strain the poaching broth and keep it warm; you need 2 cups (480 ml) for the rice, 3 tbsp for the chili sauce and the rest for blanching.
- 6
Rinse the rice in cold water until it runs almost clear, then drain well.
- 7
Heat the canola oil in a saucepan over medium heat and fry the minced garlic and grated ginger for 1–2 minutes until fragrant.
- 8
Add the rice and stir for 1 minute to coat and lightly toast the grains.
- 9
Pour in 2 cups of the hot broth, add the remaining 1/4 tsp salt and the pandan leaves if using, and bring to a boil.
- 10
Cover, reduce to the lowest heat and cook for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and rest covered for 10 minutes.
- 11
For the chili sauce, blend the chilies, garlic, chopped ginger, lime juice, sugar and 3 tbsp broth until fairly smooth.
- 12
Bring the leftover broth to a boil and blanch the bok choy for 2 minutes, then drain.
- 13
Slice the chicken and brush it lightly with the sesame oil.
- 14
Fluff the rice, removing the pandan leaves, and divide among plates with the chicken, bok choy and cucumber.
- 15
Thinly slice the remaining 2 spring onions and scatter over the chicken with the coriander, then drizzle with the low-sodium soy sauce and serve the chili sauce on the side.
Swaps, storage and make-ahead
Swaps
- Use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts for juicier meat, poaching them for about 20 minutes until they reach 74 °C / 165 °F.
- Replace the soy sauce with a tamari labelled gluten-free, and check that any packaged broth or other bottled sauces you add are also labelled gluten-free.
- If you can't find pandan leaves, simply leave them out; the rice will still be fragrant from the garlic, ginger and broth.
- For a milder chili sauce, swap two of the red chilies for half a red bell pepper and remove the seeds from the rest.
Storage
Refrigerate the chicken, rice and chili sauce in separate airtight containers within 2 hours. Eat the chicken and sauce within 3 to 4 days and the rice within 1 day, reheating the chicken and rice until steaming hot and reheating the rice only once. Keep cucumber and bok choy fresh or blanch them just before serving, and cool the rice quickly before chilling it.
Make ahead
The chili sauce can be blended up to 2 days ahead and kept covered in the fridge. You can also poach the chicken and strain the broth a day in advance, chilling both separately, then reheat the broth to cook the rice and blanch the bok choy.
Nutrition values are for the recipe as written.
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Allergens and nutrition
Contains: GlutenSoySesame
Check the labels of packaged ingredients for allergens and suitability for your diet.
Full nutrition
| Per serving (821 g) | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 554 kcal | 67 kcal |
| Protein | 42.5 g | 5.2 g |
| Carbohydrates | 72.8 g | 8.9 g |
| of which sugars | 4.7 g | 0.6 g |
| Fiber | 3.4 g | 0.4 g |
| Fat | 9.6 g | 1.2 g |
| of which saturated | 1.5 g | 0.2 g |
| Sodium | 741 mg | 90 mg |
Nutrition is calculated from USDA FoodData Central data and may differ from what you cook.
