Home > Nasi Ayam Hainan (Hainanese Chicken Rice)

Nasi Ayam Hainan (Hainanese Chicken Rice)

Posting Date: 10/22/16

Nasi Ayam Hainan (Hainanese Chicken Rice) was originally from Hainan in China. It is very popular in Singapore and Malaysia and considered as the national dish of Singapore. There are some Chinese restaurants in Indonesia that serve this dish. My mom used to buy me Nasi Ayam Hainan from the Chinese restaurant in Indonesia. I liked it so much and was glad when I was able to get it from the Malaysian restaurant in US. I learned how to make it myself several years ago. The aroma of the ginger and garlic used in the liquid to cook the chicken will fill your house and make you feel hungry. The same liquid used to cook the chicken is also used to cook the rice, so make sure you reserve the liquid when you take the chicken out after cooking it. Because of that, your rice will be flavored with the chicken broth from cooking the chicken. When you take the liquid from cooking the chicken, do not skim the fat off the liquid since it makes the rice more flavorful. The remaining of the chicken broth is used as the dippings for chili sauce and soy sauce as well as the soup to go with the rice and chicken. The dish is served with slices of cucumber and cilantro. I also serve it with fried onions to add flavor and texture.

Originally the dish is normally made with whole chicken with the skin and bone on the chicken. However, it might be too much chicken for some people and myself, especially. So, I modified the recipe and simplified it by using boneless and skinless chicken breast. You can use any other chicken meat that you prefer.

This recipe serves 2-4 people.

Ingredients:

To cook chicken, make chicken broth to cook rice, and make seasoning dips: 1.5" ginger, peeled and sliced lengthwise 1/4" thick
To cook chicken, make chicken broth to cook rice, and make seasoning dips: 3 cloves of garlic, minced
To cook chicken, make chicken broth to cook rice, and make seasoning dips: 2 boneless chicken breast. You don't need to slice it. It will be sliced after cooking.
To cook chicken, make chicken broth to cook rice, and make seasoning dips: 2 teaspoons salt
To cook chicken, make chicken broth to cook rice, and make seasoning dips: 5.5 cups of water
To cook rice: 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
To cook rice: 2 small size shallots or 1 large size shallot, minced
To cook rice: 2 cloves garlic, minced
To cook rice: 1.5" ginger, peeled and grated
To cook rice: 1.5 cups of jasmine rice
To cook rice: 3 cups chicken broth from cooking chicken. Do not skim the chicken fat from the chicken broth since it will flavor the rice.
To cook rice: 3/4 teaspoon salt
To season cooked chicken: 2 tablespoons sesame oil
To make soy sauce seasoning dip: 3 tablespoons soy sauce
To make soy sauce seasoning dip: 1 teaspoon sesame oil
To make soy sauce seasoning dip: 3 tablespoons chicken broth from cooking chicken
To make soy sauce seasoning dip: 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
To make chili sauce seasoning dip: 1 tablespoons sriracha or chili sauce
To make chili sauce seasoning dip: 1 tablespoon chicken broth from cooking chicken
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced diagonally
fried onions, to taste
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro

Methods:

Put chicken breast in a pot. Add water, garlic, ginger, and salt into pot. Make sure the chicken is fully submerged in water. If not add just enough water to submerge the chicken in the water. If you add more than 1/4 cup of water, add about 1/4 teaspoon of salt per 1/4 cup of water added. Place the pot on the stove without the lid. Turn on the stove to high. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to medium and put the lid on the pot. Cook the chicken until it is fully cooked (about 40-45 min). Check the internal temperature of the chicken with thermometer to make sure it is fully cooked. The chicken temperature should be 165 deg F. Once it is cooked, turn off the stove. Reserve the liquid in the pot, i.e. do not drain the liquid in the pot since it will be used to cook the rice, use it as soup to accompany the dish, and flavor the dipping chili sauce and dipping soy sauce. Using tongs, take the chicken out from the liquid and place it on an ice water bath. This will stop the cooking process.
Rinse the rice and drain the water. Repeat this until the water becomes clear (about 3-4 times). Set the rice aside to let it drain more water. In the meantime, put 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil on a pan. Turn on the stove to medium high. Add garlic, shallot, and ginger to the pan. Saute them until fragrant. Make sure you don't burn them. As soon as they are fragrant, add the rice and saute the rice until it is covered with oil (about 2-3 min). Turn off the heat. If using a rice cooker to cook the rice, transfer it to rice cooker. Scoop 3 cups of liquid from cooking the chicken on the previous step. You don't need to skim the fat out from the liquid since it will flavor the chicken. Add the salt to the rice cooker, stir to combine, and start the rice cooker. If using a pot to cook the rice, transfer it to the pot, scoop out 3 cups of liquid from cooking the chicken on the previous step. You don't need to skim the fat out from the liquid since it will flavor the chicken. Add salt, stir to combine, and turn on the stove to high. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat to medium and place the lid on top of the pot. Cook the rice until it is cooked.
Put 2 tablespoons of sesame oil on a plate. Using tongs, grab the chicken that has been cooled down and place it on that plate to cover the chicken with sesame oil. Do it on both sides of chicken so that both sides will be flavored with sesame oil. Once done, slice the chicken on the cutting board to 1/4" thick. Set it aside.
To make soy sauce seasoning mix: Combine 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 3 tablespoons of liquid that was used to cook chicken on previous step, and ginger.
To make chili sauce seasoning mix: Combine sriracha sauce and 1 tablespoon of liquid that was used to cook chicken on previous step.
Split the remaining liquid from cooking chicken on previous step to 4 small bowls and sprinkle each bowl with fried onion (to taste) and some cilantro leaves.
To serve it, split the rice into 4 servings and place each on the plate. Split the chicken into 4 equal servings and place it on the plate. Split the soy sauce seasoning dip into 4 and place it on small dipping plate. Split the chili sauce seasoning dip into 4 and place it on small dipping plate. Serve each plate with soy sauce seasoning dip, chili sauce seasoning dip, slices of cucumber, sprinkle of fried onion on top of rice and chicken, and some cilantro leaves.

All images, materials, and recipes on Indonesiancooking101.com are protected by copyright. Please do not use or republish the recipes, materials, or images without prior written permission from Indonesian Cooking 101. If you want to share this recipe, please share the link rather than the whole recipe.