Hainanese Chicken Rice Cooker Recipe

Here is an easy way to make our favourite chicken rice, using just a rice cooker and easily found ingredients in most supermarkets. 

Start with blitzing 3 shallots, 2 cloves garlic and 6 or 8 slices ginger, basically equal portions of everything into a rempah paste. This is the key to getting your rice fragrant. Then lightly fry in oil in a pan for a few minutes until they are golden and aromatic. Trust me, your kitchen will smell like an old school Hainanese chicken rice stall.

Next take 240g or 2 fillets of boneless chicken leg with skin on and marinate them with 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp chinese wine, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tbsp corn flour and a dash of white pepper. Mix them well and if you have time, let it rest for half hour. But if you are hungry, just go ahead to the next step.

Take a cup of chicken stock, and season it with 1/2 tsp salt, or less if you prefer less salty rice. Note if you are using packet stocks, they are already salted so skip the salt here. Next get one cup of washed rice ready in a rice cooker pot. Start by placing a bunch of pandan leaves inside with the rice. Then spread the rempah paste all around the rice, followed by placing the two chicken fillets on the rice in the center. Pour in the salted chicken stock. Put in the rice cooker and set it to cook at rice mode. Once it’s done, you should get that salivating aroma of gingery shalloty garlicky aroma, and you are not human if you are not hungry at the smell of this.

To serve, remove the chicken and simply stir the rice to mix all the juices well. Chop the chicken to neat and chunky pieces. Use a bowl to upside down the rice onto a plate, layer the chicken on top and drizzle a simple sauce of light soya, a tbsp of water, sesame oil and honey over the meat. Garnish with a side of homemade achar and you will have a delicious plate of chicken rice made at home! It’s so fragrant and savory good.

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