Get ready for the mouthwatering delight that is Rice Cooker Hainanese Chicken Rice! Originating from the vibrant province of Hainan in China, this dish has become a staple throughout Southeast Asia, especially in Singapore and Malaysia.
Picture this: tender, succulent poached chicken that’s been pampered in a fragrant broth, carefully simmered with ginger, spices, and other tantalising ingredients. The result? Pure chicken bliss that will make you go, “Mmm!”
The fragrant rice are long grains of perfection, cooked in chicken broth until they soak up all the flavours, creating a fluffy, aromatic masterpiece that will make your heart skip a beat!
And let’s not forget about those condiments and sauces that elevate this dish to new heights! There’s a fiery chilli sauce, packed with red chilies, garlic, and ginger, ready to give your taste buds a fiery tango! Then, there’s the dark soy sauce, drizzled over the chicken, infusing it with a savoury, rich flavor that will have you saying, “Oh yeah, that’s the good stuff!”
When serving Hainanese Chicken Rice, the chicken is typically carved into small pieces or thinly sliced and placed on the fragrant rice alongside the condiments and sauces, then garnished with fresh cucumber slices, cilantro, and green onions. Some popular condiments for Hainanese Chicken Rice are (1) a chilli sauce made from red chillies, garlic, ginger, vinegar, and lime juice; (2) dark soy sauce, which is drizzled over the chicken to enhance its flavour; or (3) a ginger and garlic sauce that complements the chicken and rice.
Although the traditional recipe requires lots of steps and ingredients, I was so happy to find this easy recipe for Hainanese Chicken Rice that only takes 30 minutes and mostly uses just a rice cooker! The use of premade chicken broth is also a massive time saver and key to enhancing the flavour of the rice. No more takeaways of chicken rice for our family (and we LOVE chicken rice so much that there’s never enough), as we get so much more bang for our buck just by cooking it in the comfort of our home! So let’s get to it!
Watch How To Make It
Rice Cooker Chicken Rice
Equipment
- Rice cooker
Ingredients
- 2 cups uncooked rice
- 2 shallots minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 2 inch ginger sliced
- 2 pandan leaves
- 2 boneless chicken thighs
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- cucumber
- coriander leaves for garnish
Sauce
- 2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- hot water
Instructions
- Wash the uncooked rice and season the boneless chicken thighs, then set them aside.
- Saute the minced garlic and shallots over medium heat for about 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
- Add the washed uncooked rice into the pan and stir well so it is well coated. Add 1 tsp of salt and 2 ½ cups of chicken broth. Mix and bring to a boil.
- Once the rice starts boiling/bubbling, pour it into the rice cooker. Place sliced ginger, pandan leaves and the seasoned boneless chicken thighs on top of the rice. Cook the rice in the rice cooker as per usual.
- While waiting, slice some cucumber into bite-sized strips if desired. Then make the sauce with light soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, salt and add hot water to dilute the ingredients.
- Once the rice is done, remove the chicken for slicing into bite-sized strips. Discard the ginger slices and pandan leaves and fluff the rice.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken and rice, and garnish with coriander leaves. The cucumber slices also give a refreshing contrast of flavour.
5 comments
Will this work with a simple/ cheap rice cooker?
Yes! Any rice cooker will do 🙂
Just made this tonight for dinner. Very yummy ! I didn’t have shallots but that’s okay.
What brand rice
I use Fairprice jasmine rice, but you can use any rice you prefer 🙂