The other day, because I was inspired by the Fried Chicken ala Max leftover soup, I made some Hainanese Chicken Rice. Just the rice, no chicken, and the family were left wanting for more. The ginger and chicken broth is reminiscent of our very own chicken tinola and I think my son has claimed as his own comfort food.
Its been almost 3 years since I last cooked Hainanese and I know I haven’t shared this yet on my food blog so today, we’re doing a new Quick and Easy Chicken Meal. This easy Rice Cooker Hainanese Chicken Rice really hits the spot if you’re craving this popular Singapore dish.
Hainanese chicken, as the name implies, came from Hainan, a province in China. But it was brought by Chinese merchants to other Asian countries particularly Malaysia and Singapore and there, it really flourished. If you’re talking Hainanese, it is now synonymous to Singapore. It is now even known as Singapore’s national dish. It’s nice to know that this dish really came about as a way for the servant class to save and stretch the flavor of the chicken.
If you’re a Filipino, and you have leftover chicken broth, all you need really is the theory behind the dish and you’d know how to do it without a recipe. Just use the stock instead of water and done. That’s it! Sinaing sa sabaw ng manok – lol.
But if you’re aiming for a tastier one-dish chicken meal, a few extra steps makes the rice even more wonderful!
Below are the steps on how to cook the rice cooker Hainanese chicken rice. It’s really easy and you can cook this recipe on a weekday. It’s done in under 30 minutes and your kids will think you’re a goddess in the kitchen. You can cook this for baon too and just reheat in the office kitchen microwave.
Rice Cooker Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice
- 2 cups broth
- 2 TBSP sesame oil
- 3 chicken drumsticks (or breast, but the drumstick seems tastier)
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 TSP ginger (grated)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 TSP patis (fish sauce)
- spring onion (for garnish)
- pipino (side)
How to Cook Rice Cooker Hainanese Chicken
- Rub the chicken in salt and wash with water.
- Marinate the chicken in sesame oil and set aside for about 15 minutes.
- Saute the ginger and garlic, add the rice and fish sauce. Mix until patis is absorbed.
- Add the chicken broth.
- Arrange the chicken on top.
- Don’t forget to turn on the rice cooker and wait for it to work its goodness!
Hainanese Chicken Serving Suggestions:
This chicken dish is best served with cucumber in the side, and some more chicken stock served as a soup. Top with the spring onions.
As Filipino as we are, dippings always seem to complete any meal. This has two recommended dippings depending on your taste and what’s available in the kitchen. You can serve it with a dipping of Sriracha Sauce (available in the Asian section of most big groceries in Manila). Just get a few tablespoons of your broth, add some calamansi, the sriracha, add some salt, sugar, garlic and ginger. Or, try the Ginger- Garlic Sauce -a combination of fresh ginger + finely chopped garlic with a little salt and splash of vinegar can also do the trick. Sometimes, I also do it like the Koreans do and dip the Hainanese Chicken in sesame oil with salt. (But that’s just totally me, haha).
Side story, I actually discovered Hainanese chicken rice because of the dipping. One day, my husband brought home some leftover from his office party and there’s the ginger and garlic dip that was so out of this world. I asked which meat did it come paired with and it was a love affair waiting to happen. It was that awesome!
Chicken Notes:
As it sometimes happens, someone will squeal that the chicken is not cooked. (or not cooked enough). In order to remedy this, I have begun sauteing the chicken with the rice. Just fish it out when you’re plating. You can also optionally steam the chicken first but this removes the ease and convenience of just throwing everything together in the rice cooker.
Cheating Notes.
There are some Hainanese Chicken Rice Mix available in the market and I used to use them when I was still not feeling confident with this chicken dish. And it’s okay to use them, I won’t judge! But, really, apart from the unmentionable and almost unreadable list of preservatives, I found that there’s really nothing special about them. So don’t feel like you’re shortchanging your family for this wonderfully amazing Hainanese Chicken Rice!
Print a copy below:
Easy Rice Cooker Hainanese Chicken Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice
- 2 cups broth
- 2 TBSP sesame oil
- 3 chicken drumsticks (or breast, but the drumstick seems tastier)
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 TSP ginger (grated)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 TSP patis (fish sauce)
- spring onion (for garnish)
- pipino (cucumber) (side)
Instructions
- Rub the chicken in salt and wash with water.
- Marinate the chicken in sesame oil and set aside for about 15 minutes.
- Saute the ginger and garlic, add the rice and fish sauce. Mix until patis is absorbed.
- Add the chicken broth.
- Arrange the chicken on top.
- Don’t forget to turn on the rice cooker and wait for it to work its goodness!
- Arrange on a plate with a piece of chicken, a cup of rice, and a side of cucumber. Serve with broth soup and dippings.
