Mark Bittman's Hainanese Chicken with Rice

Thank you all, you big sweethearts, for your congratulations and good wishes and love. I'm basking in it all - we are, I should say - and I don't want this feeling to ever end. I knew people liked romance, but I didn't know how much! It feels a little anti-climactic to write this next post about food again: "I just got engaged! Now let me tell you about this toast." But we keep eating and I keep writing and so it goes, just with a bigger grin these days.

* * *

I am, in a word, a sucker for Chinese food. It's become a full-blown obsession of mine, in fact. Perhaps it's fed by the fact that Ben dislikes it and we've moved to a neighborhood where there's no good Chinese food in walking distance (O, Manhattan, this is what I miss!), I don't know, but I do spend an inordinate amount of time thinking of ways I can eat more of it.

(A few times after the New York Times published this map, I'd get in the car and drive to Flushing, where I'd scurry into the subterranean warren of food stands where no one speaks any English and the food seems as cheap and authentic as I imagine it to be in China itself. Five minutes later, with hot, porky, chili-oil-slicked noodles packed into a plastic take-away box and wrapped in a plastic bag dangling from my wrist, I'd dash out, hop in the car and speed home to eat noodles in blissful, mouth-tingling silence. The fly-by-night nature of the operation almost made it seem like I was conducting an illicit affair. My darling had plans after work and I dallied with translucent-skinned dumplings and fragrant soups. My sweetheart had to go into the city on a Saturday and I schemed to eat hand-pulled noodles and let Sichuan peppercorns numb my lips. Hoo, I get sweaty just thinking about it.)

But for some reason, I'm still a little scared of making Chinese food at home. Yes, I'm daunted by the long ingredient lists. Also, I don't own a wok or have the pleasure of a dining companion willing to ingest copious amounts of ground pork at every meal. Is that enough reason to keep myself from making the food I currently love the most? Absolutely not. Do I jump with glee every time one of the newspapers publishes a Chinese recipe, just because then it feels like a challenge that I have to complete? Yes, indeed.

Mark Bittman's Hainanese chicken has quite a bit going for it. First of all, it makes A Lot of Food. Enough to feed a family of four or six, I'd say, or two with leftovers for lunch for at least a couple of days. Second of all, you'll get a few quarts of chicken stock - lovely, ginger-and-garlic scented chicken stock - out of it, perfect for freezing and drinking in times of sickness or for cooking rice. I'm trying my hardest right now to economize and find meals where I didn't before (but spending a few extra dollars on an organic, free-ranging chicken seems worth it, nevertheless). Third of all, in the annals of Chinese recipes, it is so easy you could almost do it with your eyes closed, which is what I find most appealing, of course.

You boil a chicken with ginger and garlic for 10 minutes, then turn off the flame and let the chicken sit in hot broth for almost an hour. Then you use the hot broth to cook the rice. It's a one-dish meal, with cucumbers and tomatoes and chopped scallions all arranged right on top of the chicken and rice and served at the table with a dipping sauce.

The dipping sauce is the one problem with this whole recipe. It's basically just oil mixed with ginger and chopped scallions and it feels a little odd, to be dipping chunks of chicken into oil (I halved the amount of oil called for, but still). The next time I make this, I'll simply toss the chicken with the ginger, scallions and sesame oil and then pile the whole lot on top of the rice.

For someone who professes to dislike Chinese food, Ben had an awful lot of this at dinner. It's not takeout from Flushing, no, and it's not nearly hot and funky enough for my tastes, but I'm counting it as a minor success. Besides, now I've got the goods for homemade fried rice - my first ever - and that's cause for celebration!

Hainanese Chicken with Rice
Serves 4 to 6

Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 whole (3- to 4-pound) chicken, trimmed of excess fat
Several cloves smashed garlic, plus 1 teaspoon minced garlic
Several slices fresh ginger, plus 1 tablespoon minced ginger
4 tablespoons peanut oil, or neutral oil, like corn or canola
3 shallots, roughly chopped, or a small onion
2 cups long-grain rice
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/2 cup minced scallions
2 cucumbers, peeled and sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced
Chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Add chicken to pot along with smashed garlic and sliced ginger. Bird should be completely submerged, but only just. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let bird remain in water for 45 minutes to an hour, covered, or until it is cooked through.

2. Remove chicken from pot, reserve stock, and let bird cool to room temperature. Put 4 tablespoons peanut oil in a skillet over medium heat; you may add trimmed chicken fat to this also. When oil is hot, add remaining garlic, along with shallots; cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring, until glossy. Add 4 cups reserved chicken stock and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover; cook for about 20 minutes, until rice has absorbed all liquid. Stir in salt and pepper to taste.

3. Combine the sesame oil, ginger, half the scallions and a large pinch of salt.

4. Shred or chop chicken, discarding skin. Toss the chicken with the sesame oil mixture. Put rice on a large platter and mound chicken on top of it; decorate platter with cucumbers, tomatoes and cilantro, and serve.

Comments

[Sylvie]

Chinese is something I like and never cook much at home either. I just don't seem to be able to get it just right. Love the fresh colours of the dish.

[Adrienne]

I read that recipe on NYtimes.com and I wasn't that enthused, but the idea of "lovely, ginger-and-garlic scented chicken stock" might just win me over.

[Mandy]

Hainanese Chicken Rice is a popular dish in Singapore and Malaysia! Even though coming from that part of the world, I have never attempted making it from scratch but always opt for the premix sauce for the rice. Your version looks really delicious!

[ann]

LOL. I love your "affair" allusion. My secret lover is ketchup, sweet, sour, salty, lovely ketchup. He and I meet whenever we can outside of the house ;-)

[Christina]

I need to try this recipe and see how it compares to the chicken rice I've had in Singapore! Your version looks wonderful.

Also, congrats on your engagement! I'm a little late with the good wishes, but they are sincere just the same. Enjoy this special time!

[Fabulously Broke]

Hope you get this.

So you basically sautee the rice (no liquid) in only the oil to make it glossy before you actually literally cook the rice in the broth?

Did I get that right?

[Fabulously Broke]

Sorry, my email is brokeinthecity at gmail dot com if you want to email me and let me know!

[Luisa]

Fabulously Broke - yes, that's right. You're basically coating the rice with a little bit of the hot, flavored oil before pouring in the liquid.

[lynh]

Hi Louisa,
Congratulations! your words are beautiful and so are you :) Just wanted to say that I feel, like many of the other readers, that Chinese food is something that is quite hard to get right. One day, though, I was craving something for a cold, and I came across this site's recipe for congee. it was my first Chinese food success:

http://thesecretfoodie.blogspot.com/2007/08/chicken-congee.html

This is the same principle as the hainanese rice recipe and one that many of my chinese colleagues have told me they use frequently. Yup, you just dump chicken marinated with scallions, ginger, garlic, and sesame oil to flavor your soup! (or whatever you have on hand) And Congee is one of those recipes that adapts to your schedule :) With some roasted seaweed, it's simply divine comfort food.

(PS I thought you two were through with bittman after the 2nd stuck pot rice recipe? but no judgments, I promise! Because I do the same. I can't help it, newspaper articles and their stories excite me too.)

[Luisa]

Lynh - he redeemed himself (hugely) with his Tomato Paella... :)

[Marty]

I made this the day after Mark Bittman posted it, and damn. It was good. I did the oil dipping sauce, and I strongly suggest (without being pushy, I hope) that you try it the next you make it. Really.

[Biz]

Oh, this is definitely on the list of things to make - thanks!

[EB]

Fried rice and an engagement. Major celebration time.

[maryn]

First, *huge* congratulations on your San Francisco news. That's wonderful. All happiness.

Second, the chicken rice recipe. I was really glad to see this, because I adore Hainanese chicken rice, and ate far too much of it when I went to Singapore for Lunar New Year. This recipe is pretty close, except for no pandan leaves. (But in the new economy, who's going to buy shipped-across-the-ocean pandan leaves anyway? Not me.)

Except: That oil dipping sauce is not remotely like what's at the S'pore hawker centers. Their sauce was always red chiles, lime juice, a little hot stock, and seasonings, and much nummier. There's a simple/tweakable recipe at the Singapore tourism site that's much closer: http://tinyurl.com/53qaev

[Mama JJ]

This caught my eye and has got me thinking. I may just have to make it, but first I need to go buy me a chicken and some fresh ginger, and a cuke and 'mater (wait, maybe there are still some out there in my abandoned garden)---all the rest I've got. Now I'm hungry. (My bedtime snack of apple pie and vanilla ice cream is calling, rather, screaming, my name.) Good night!

(By the way, I enjoy your writing.)

-JJ

[Sylvie, Rappahannock Cook & Kitchen Gardener]

mmmm... this is like the Chinese version of the French Poule au Pot! You'd serve the clear broth as a first course, then the veggies with which it cooked and the meat!

I like the flavors of the Hainanese chicken: I must try that recipe. I have been doing a series of posts myself on Roast one Chicken on Sunday and have a week worth of dinners (with the additions of some veggies). It certainly helps one's budget, yet allows one to eat well and nutritiously. If interested, check
http://www.laughingduckgardens.com/ldblog.php/2008/09/24/roast-chicken-for-sunday-tasty-dinners-for-the-whole-week/

[Hilary]

I've been intimidated by homemade chinese as well. This looks awesome.

[maggie (pithy and cleaver)]

I was going to say—I bet the dipping sauce would be good with a little lime and/or chinese black vinegar. Which is fabulous stuff.

I, too, sneak meals when my boy's away...he just doesn't like eggs, and I could eat them for every meal...

[w.]

The ginger dipping sauce you made is actually just one of three of the usual sauces served with this dish - there's normally that, a chilli-lime sour and spicy dipping sauce, as well as a type of thick dark sauce which is sweet and sticky and caramel-ly instead of just savoury like other soy sauces.

As much as long ingredients lists tend to intimidate, I hope anyone else trying to replicate this dish will try this one instead:

http://chubbyhubby.net/blog/?p=205

It's far closer to what you'd get in Singapore or anywhere else in Southeast Asia for that matter.

[lobstersquad]

congratulations! what great news, I´m so happy for you.
I make this chicken all the time, because if you think you´re Chinese-food deprived, forget it. Madrid is the dreariest of deserts. I usually use this recipe from Chubby Hubby, the dipping sauces are way better

http://chubbyhubby.net/blog/?p=205

[Bittermelon]

I grew up on that ginger-scallion oil mixture and the one thing my mother did differently that I think makes a world of difference was she heated the oil until it was hot and then poured it over the ginger and scallions in a bowl. Smelled so good, cut through the rawness, and was great with both the chicken and the rice. I'm salivating as I think about it. I hope you'll try it the next time you make it.

[Daniel Scher]

It's worth watching Bittman's video because there, unlike the print recipe, he heats the sauce.

[Josh Baugher]

Very similar to http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2008/04/the-cartoon-kitchen-lisas-cold-chicken.html except that recipe called for Hoison sauce as an accompaniment.

[Cheri Liefeld]

Chinese is my favorite food but I too rarely make it at home. This looks great so I might have to give it a try!

[Teryll]

I'm a sucker for dim sum, so I can relate to you missing access to good Chinese. I am originally from Los Angeles and live in the midwest now....sigh.....but it's forced me to make dim sum, which is definitely a GOOD thing.

Cheers!

[Nicole]

Luisa,

I made this tonight because your photo and description were just too hard to resist. Yummy! I hope next time you will try the sauce as it really was a wonderful complement to the dish.

Thank you for your blog. And again, congratulations to you both.

[Fiona]

I just moved to Forest Hills and discovered a pretty good dim sum restaurant on Queens Boulevard. Not bad at all! Carts and delicious dumplings galore.

I tried to make another version of the Hainanese chicken years ago and wasn't too happy with it, mostly b/c the chicken wasn't the highest quality around. I'll have to try this again w/ a free range, organic chicken.

Also, if you're really craving a restaurant version of this, try it at the Nyonya/Penang restaurant branches. http://www.penangusa.com/location_nyonya_grand.html It's my holy grail of Hainanese chicken, at least until I can make my first trip to Singapore :D

[Luisa]

Bittermelon - heating the sauce sounds like a great idea.

Fiona - where?!?! What's the dim sum place called?

[Susmita]

I was on an airport shuttle last weekend and the shuttle driver was singing praises of the hainanese fried rice he used to eat. It was so on my mind and then I saw this post. I can't wait to try it.

[Grayburn]

I'm making this right now, wish me luck! The sauce is a typical dipping sauce for steamed or boiled chicken in the chinese cuisine. The oil gets scented with the ginger and becomes fragrant and delice. The chicken should actually be chopped with skin and bone on into sections (like what you see at those chinese restaurants).

[Joyce]

I love the simplicity of hainan chicken!

A tip with the dipping sauce is to heat the oil, and pour it over the ginger/scallion mixture. i actually prefer peanut oil to the sesame oil, which most of my friends use when making hainan chicken.

There are a couple of other dipping sauces, like the sweet soya sauce (dark soya sauce, light soya sauce, rice wine vinegar, scallions, and sriracha) and the thai dipping sauce (thai chili peppers, scallions, ginger, garlic, lime juice, hot chicken broth).

Congrats on the engagement!

[johanna]

wow your rendition looks delicious. i wouldn't have thought to scatter the cukes and tomatoes on top - so pretty. my boyfriend (also called ben) and i made this last week and it was so delicious - and i like you never make chinese food but LOVE it and am sad there isn't any decent chinese spot in park slope. alas, there is always sunset park. i can attest to the authenticity of this recipe (not that you'd really doubt bittman) because my one of my best friend in high school's chinese mom used to make this all the time! she called it "ginger-scallion".

[Zoe]

Have you tried any of Fuchsia Dunlop's books? I cook from them every week - but you'll need a wok.

And congratulations on your news!

[MM]

this recipe looks wonderful

need a bit of help

am I starting out with COOKED rice - or is it uncooked?

[Luisa]

MM - you start out with raw rice that you saute and then cook in the chicken broth.

[Dee]

I LOVE Hainanese Chicken Rice - it's a staple here in Malaysia. Your version looks delicious, if a little different. Good luck with the fried rice. Remember to use day-old rice and super high heat... but I'm sure you know that :) And congrats on the engagement!

[bellyspeak]

I've made this dish twice since you posted it, love it. I think they key difference is the treatment of the chicken. I watched Bittman's vid and also Bourdain's Singapore show that features this dish. It seems like overkill but shocking the bird in an ice bath (salted) really made the difference for me. First, it stops the cooking process. It also congeals the skin ( when I didn't shock the skin got rubbery). Most importantly, I think, the temperature variation of hot rice, room temp or slightly colder chicken, and cold raw veg, is what really makes this dish. When I didn't shock and served the chix warm, the overall dish didn't feel as "light" or "clean". Anyway, it's worth trying out. Sorry for the ramble:)

[[eatingclub] vancouver]

Hainan chicken is one of our favourite meals. Easy to make and you get a lot of food, complete with a soup course. All this looks delicious!

[Katie]

OH your description of the Flushing Chinese takeout made me sigh dreamily and then my stomach started to growl. I live in a town where even decent Chinese is NONexistent and it pains me. I will definitely be trying this fabulous-sounding dish! Thanks for the suggestion :)