It’s not traditional Hainanese chicken for three reasons:

The bird isn’t poached in this recipe. The chicken cooks in a steam bath.
We didn’t use a whole chicken. We used skin-on chicken thigh fillets.
The chicken and rice cook at the same time in a rice cooker.

How does the chicken turn tasty if not allowed to cook slowly in broth spiked with Shao Xing rice wine, herbs and spices?

The fillets are seasoned ahead of time with the same ingredients that go into the poaching liquid of Hainanese chicken.

How is the rice cooked in chicken broth if there is no poaching liquid?

We cooked the rice in chicken bone broth that we keep in stock. To be more specific, spices were sauteed in the rice cooker, rice was stirred in, and just enough chicken broth was added to cover the rice.

Then, the seasoned thigh fillets were arranged on top of the rice, the rice cooker is turned on and the chicken and rice cook together.

Final note

You may be thinking that just enough chicken broth to cover the rice is hardly sufficient amount of liquid to cook the rice grains completely, and you’d be correct. The thing is, chicken meat has a high water content. That water gets expelled in the heat, gets mixed with the broth and the result is that you get enough liquid to cook the rice in. At the same time, the boiling liquid generates the necessary steam to cook the seasoned chicken fillets.

Rice cooker Hainanese-style chicken

Connie Veneracion

While this recipe aims to highlight the versatility of modern rice cookers, you may opt to cook this dish on the stovetop using a regular cooking pan or a claypot.

The marinating time may be reduced to two hours but, for best results, let the chicken soak up the seasonings overnight in the fridge. Allow to come to room temperature while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Marinating 8

Total Time 8 30

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

Chicken

4 large chicken thigh fillets
1 tablespoon Shao Xing rice wine
1 teaspoon grated garlic
1 teaspoon grated ginger
2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions white portion only
1 tablespoon rock salt
1 pinch ground black pepper

Rice

1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 shallot peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic peeled and chopped
1 ½ cups medium-grain rice (jasmine rice is recommended) rinsed and thoroughly drained
chicken bone broth
salt if the broth is unseasoned or underseasoned

Ginger scallion sauce

1 tablespoon grated ginger
4 tablespoons finely chopped scallions green portion
1 teaspon rock salt
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon sesame seed oil

Instructions

Rinse the chicken fillets and wipe dry with paper towels.
Place the chicken in a mixing bowl. Add the rice wine, grated garlic, ginger, scallions, salt and pepper. Mix well. Cover the bowl and marinate in the chicken in the fridge for a minimum of two hours.
Turn on the rice cooker (if there is a temperature control, set to LOW) and pour in the cooking oil.
Saute the shallot and garlic for a minute, stir in the rice and pour in enough broth to cover the rice.
Arrange the chicken fillets on top of the rice.
Place the lid on the cooker and leave until the rice has soaked up all the liquid.
To make the ginger scallion sauce, mix together the ginger, scallions and salt in a heatproof bowl.
In a small pan, heat the oils until you see wisps of smoke floating on the surface.
Pour the hot oil over the ginger-scallion mixture and stir.
Remove the chicken from the rice cooker, cut into strips and brush the skins with the ginger-scallion oil.
Place rice in bowls, arrange the chicken slices on top and spread ginger-scallion sauce on the chicken.