Hainanese Chicken Rice (Sous Vide)- Ginger Week

This is our take/variation on a Hainanese Chicken Rice using a Sous Vide machine! We love using a sous vide machine when it comes to using this dish due to the machine's ability to keep the chicken very moist and accentuate the chicken flavour. We typically in this dish have a dark soy sauce and a chilli sauce as well but to highlight the use of ginger we opted to actually overlay the Ginger sauce on top of the chicken!

We absolutely love this dishes' use of ginger as a lunch or even a dinner. The ginger is a beautiful accent on such a silky and flavourful chicken. Furthermore, the sauce itself goes so well with rice or even noodles with heavy ginger flavours yet isn't too bitter or spicy. The sauce is so fragrant, light and brings out the ginger essence perfectly.

This dish originates from the Hainan province in Southern China with it being one of the most influential dishes in the Qin Dynasty. Despite controversy, it is considered one of Singapore's original dishes and also one of their national dishes. It is loved and eaten far and wide not just in Singapore and Malaysia but also throughout Asia in many different forms and variations such as our Hong Kong styled one. Classically in Singapore, they typically poach the chicken over long periods of time much like with a Sous Vide. However, after poaching the chicken, the stock is produced as a result while the chicken is dipped in ice to create a more gelatinous skin. They then use the broth, garlic, pandan leaves and some varied herbs to make the rice in which will be rich with Chicken flavour. As stated before they would be served with a red chilli sauce, dark soy sauce, ginger sauce and fresh chicken broth!

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Ingredients

-Chicken of any size or cut (preferably free-range)

-Salt

-Green Onion (10 Stalks)

-Ginger (4 Inch size)

-Chicken Fat (Optional)

-Chicken Stock (3 Cups)

-Garlic (6 Cloves)

-Rice (3 Cups)

-Vegetable based oil

-Sesame Oil

-Cucumber (optional)

- 7 Red Chilli (optional)

-1 Lime (optional)

-Dark Soy Sauce (optional)

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Recipe:

1. Using a bowl use salt and water to exfoliate the chicken skin to create a smoother texture in the skin.

2. Use a large vat of water and start heating it up to 150F/ 66C with your sous-vide

3. Depending what cut you have, put it in to a sealed bag/ vacuum bag (If it is a whole chicken cut it up and only use the breast, wings, and legs). Along with the chicken, place a few slices (around an inch) of ginger and 4 stocks of green onion.

4. Using one pot use the leftover chicken, a few slices of ginger (half an inch), a stock of green onion, a dash of salt, a cup of chicken stock and water to rolling boil then simmer. This will create a very nice soup or you could opt to not create a soup.

5. Once the water has reached 150F, place your sealed bag in to sous-vide for an hour and a half.

6. Wash your rice. Then using a pan, fry some left over chicken fat (if you have it) until rendered then throw in a teaspoon of sesame oil, 2 inches of sliced ginger, garlic until it starts smelling fragrant. Add the rice then fry a bit for flavour then pour all contents into your rice cooker (you could just cook it in a pot if not) then using chicken broth or your soup cook it as if you were using water.

7. (Optional) You can dice some cucumbers and serve it with your fresh soup, or you could just serve soup without.

8. (Optional) Now time for the sauces if you decide to make the red chilli sauce; it is a simple mixture of red chilli, lime juice, salt, a half cup of chicken broth, half inch of ginger. All these would be blended and voila! You can also take out a dark soy sauce as a third sauce to accompany as well.

9. Our essential ginger sauce is now up! Mine the remaining green onion and finely grate the ginger. Using a bit of the vegetable oil, cook the oil until smokey then pour over the onion and ginger. Add salt to taste

10. Once the rice and chicken is done, you can serve the rice and soup in small bowls, the chicken in the centre, and plate all three sauces on the side! Enjoy! (Alternatively you could pour the ginger sauce on top of the chicken as we did to accentuate ginger flavours!)

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