Recommended: My Knockout Hainanese Chicken Rice

Preamble
What makes any Hainanese chicken rice a stand-out?

For me it has to be rice that is fluffy, tender, individual grains, and aromatic with good chicken stock without being too oily. Then there is the chicken itself: it must be freshly prepared on-the-spot and consumed within the same Hour. OK, perhaps longer, but definitely not kept too long! It has to be full of flavor, redolent and uplifted with sesame oil and aromatic soya sauce, the meat juicy, tender and sweet. The sweetness comes from the freshly cooked meat, with the last hint of blood fading away...

Finally, the condiment - ginger chilli sauce, kecap manis-ginger dipping sauce and salad accompaniment, and ooohh..the stock, swimming with fresh coriander leaves - must complement and add to the overall culinary experience of eating the best Hainanese Chicken Rice in the world!!!

This is my version of what I think is my Knock-out Hainanese Chicken Rice.

PROCEDURE

First the stock. It must be the best chicken stock anywhere. And after exhaustive trials and net research, I finally found it, made the Gordon Ramsay's way:-

Making Chicken Stock - Gordon Ramsay Method
You need:
1 Fresh Carrot, cut 1" size,
1 Fresh Red Onion, cut 1" size,
1 Fresh Leek, cut 1" size,
2 Fresh Celery Stalks, chopped 1" length
1 Thyme Sprig
2 Fresh Parsley Sprigs
2 Bay Leaves
1 tsp Black Peppercorns,cracked with a pot
1 Garlic Bulb, halved
Alternative:
Maggi Concentrated Stock-Chicken, 250-g Bottle, 1 tsp, 5mg=1 x bowl chicken stock, 180ml

Note: I had some left-over chicken broth from braising chicken parts yesterday which coagulated into a gelatinous mass in the fridge overnight. Delish! But the amount wasn't enough for a pot of stock. I thus resorted to Maggi Concentrated Stock for the chicken broth, using 3 Tbl = equivalent to 2.16 li of stock! 1 tsp is 5g, 1 Tbl is 20g or 4 x 1 tsp, so 4 x 180ml is 2.16 liters! I also added vegetables, spices and herbs following Gordon Ramsay's method. The result was a chicken stock that was delicious and exceedingly memorable! Salt carefully to taste. BTW, that's my secret tip. *grin*

Steps:

• Carcass of chicken in pot.
• Chop and roughly cut 1 red onion,1 leek, 1 carrot to same size, so all cook at same time. 
• Cut and add 2 sticks celery, 1 garlic bulb cut in half, 1 tsp black pepper corns, crushed lightly with a pan and finally, 2 bay leaves, couple of fresh parsley and a nice sprig of fresh thyme. The vegetables flavour the stock.
• Quickly bring to a boil, and skim the scum that form to avoid a cloudy stock.
• Boil for 30 min, maximum 40 mins. Then sieve the stock.

Making Ice

• Have extra ice cubes in the freezer for plunging chicken in ice-cold water after steeping.

Protect Yourself from Boiling Water

• Wear rubber glove, and over that, plastic glove. This will protect your hand when you steep the chicken in boiling water/stock.
• Tie the chicken legs together with twine in order to provide a grip on the chicken while steeping.

Getting the Bowls, Pans, Utensils Ready

• You need 2 large pots for steeping, one for boiling water, the other for chicken stock.
• You may also need a pot to cook the chicken rice if you don't intend to use the microwave oven to cook the rice.

Getting the Ingredients Ready
Fresh red chillies
Fresh red bird chillies
Fresh Large Chicken
Garlic
Kalamansi Lime
Spring Onion
Young Ginger
Sesame Oil
Light soya sauce
Kecap Manis or Thick Sweet Soya Sauce
Fresh Cucumber

For chicken stock
Bay Leaves
Fresh Thyme
Fresh Leeks
Fresh Coriander
Fresh Celery
Fresh Parsley

Preparing & Cleaning the Chicken

• Remove the chicken fat in the inner thighs. Rub 1-2 tbl salt on chicken for 1.5-2.0 kg chicken - and leave 15 min. Wash and dry.
• Rub the following paste onto chicken and set aside for 60min to allow the paste to infuse into the meat:-

• 1 cm knob ginger and 1 spring onion,  pureed to a paste
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine

Steep in Boiling Water
Fill a large pot with water and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat and fully immerse the chicken to ensure thorough cooking. Two minutes kill bacteria. Hence blanch the chicken, 1 minute at a time, a couple of times, carefully lifting it in and out of the pot. I grabed the feet, bound together with a twine. My hand is protected with two gloves - an inner rubber glove and an outer plastic one! *grin*. That way I hardly feel the heat form the hot or boiling water. Be careful not to tear or bruise the skin in the process. This process of 'changing the water' washes the salted cavity of excess blood and impurities, and at the same time, seals the cavity. Remove the chicken, and refresh it in ice-cold water to firm the flesh and seal the skin.

Steep in Chicken Stock
In another pot is your boiling chicken stock. Some add 1 slice of ginger and 1 spring onion stalk. I didn't, as my stock is complete and I didn't want to change the taste or flavor. Carefully repeat the same steeping process, taking care not to tear the skin. Now you know how handy my glove protection method is! Steep the chicken a couple of times to heat up the chicken cavity, because when you submerge it later for 20-30 min the chicken will be heated externally by the stock, but not the inside, which will be less cooked than the exterior. After you have done that, remove the chicken, bring the stock to a boil, skim off any impurities, turn off the heat.

Then and only then submerge the chicken completely in the stock for 23-24 min. Test the thigh area with a bamboo skewer to test for raw-ness / done-ness. TIP: This is my method to ensure my steeping time can be repeated ad-nausuem - similar weight of chicken, same pot, same amount of stock, same method. It is the most crucial step in the preparation - to ensure I cook the bird perfectly. That is, with just a hint of blood still on the thigh bone when I take it out of the broth. The meat will continue cooking during the 30-min rest period before carving, even removed from the hot stock.

Remove the chicken from the pot and place it on a serving dish to cool for 30 minutes. By this time the bird is fully rested and is ready for carving.

Carving the Chicken
Vid 1: Test Kitchen-How to Cut Up a Whole Fresh Chicken
Vid 2: Test Kitchen-How to Carve A Whole Roast Chicken

Making Chicken Rice
Garlic, 1 Tbl chopped
Shallot, 1 Tbl chopped
Old Ginger, 1/2 Tbl sliced

3 cups Basmati rice, washed and drained 5-6 times
Enough chicken stock to cover about 1" and boil the rice (about 6 cups)

MethodSaute the ginger, garlic, shallots on a pan or wok until fragrant, ginger and garlic golden brown, shallot crispy:

• use 1-2 tbsp oil from rendered chicken fats
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic and shallots
• 1/2 tbsp chopped ginger

Rule of thumb: 1 Tbl chicken oil for each cup of rice

Set aside.

Next, cook the raw rice in a pot of boiling stock until 50% done. Test for 50% done-ness by crushing a grain with the thumb. If the grain breaks into 3 parts or more, it is 50% cooked more or less. The rice grain should still feel grainy. Pour away the excess stock and drain the rice clear of any liquid, essential if you want individual grains that are intact, fluffy, tender. Next, put the drained rice into the pot, add the rice flavoring / condiment, cover with lid, set the fire to very low, and cook for 30 min, cover on.

Dipping Sauce
2 cm knob ginger
2 spring onions, white only
1 tbsp light soy sauce
t tbsp shallot oil

Pound ginger and spring onion to a paste, add soy sauce and pour hot shallot oil into the mix.

Making Gingery Chilli Sauce

Chilli Sauce

10 large red chillies
2 bird chillies
1.5-inch young ginger
9 garlic cloves
Kalamansi Lime
Sugar & salt to taste

Blend the chillies, ginger, garlic together until you get a paste. The fresh chillies obviate the need to add water.

Spoon the chilli paste into a saucer in the ratio below:

- 2 tsp chilli paste

- 1 small-medium kalamansi lime

- 1/2 tsp brown sugar

- 1/4 tsp kosher salt

Making Sesame-Soya Sauce Condiment
This is the definitive sauce that is poured over the chicken before serving. The ratio is: 2 tsp light soya sauce to 1 tsp sesame oil. Make enough for one whole chicken - 4 tsp soya sauce: 2 tsp sesame oil.

Easy Thai Cucumber Salad
Prep time: Only 10 min

Make this Thai salad to go with your chicken rice.

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So this is it - my definitive guide to making wholesome, juicy, very tender and steeped-to-perfection in Ramsay Gordon's chicken stock.

ENJOY !