Hainanese Chicken Sticky Rice
What happens when lotus-wrapped sticky rice meets Hainanese chicken rice? Instant classic.
INGREDIENTS:
FOR THE CHICKEN: 1 whole chicken, nub of ginger, 2-3 scallions, 2-3 cups sticky rice, chicken bouillon, 5-10 cloves garlic
FOR THE GARNISHES: 2-3 scallions, 4-5 slices of ginger, duck fat, chicken stock, birds’ eye chilies, rice vinegar, sugar, dark soy, cilantro (optional)
EQUIPMENT:
Saucepan, bamboo steamer, mixing bowl, strainer, lotus leaves, bamboo steamer, wok, cleaver
Day 1
Remove the wings, backbone, and neck (if there is one) from a whole chicken, and put parts in a small saucepan of water and boil for an hour along with 2-3 slices of ginger and a whole scallion. Once stock is done, let cool and drain into a bowl. Add 2-3 cups of glutinous rice (stock should cover the rice completely), cover, and let it soak overnight in the fridge.
Break down the rest of the chicken into legs and breasts. Spread salt and Hainan rice mix (or Minior’s chicken base) evenly over chicken legs and breast pieces, cover and also stick in the fridge.
Day 2
Place one lotus leaf in a big pan and run hot water all over it until softened – should take a few minutes. This step can also be done the night before – the lotus leaf can just stay soaking in water. If you’re planning on using two steamer shelves, soak two leaves. If you’re using a whole chicken, you’ll probably need two shelves.
Thinly slice 5-10 cloves of garlic (depends how much you like garlic!) and toast in a neutral oil over medium flame until golden brown. I like to use a wok and hold it an inch above the fire, jiggling the whole time.
Drain chicken stock from rice using a fine mesh strainer so that you don’t lose any of the chicken fat. Save the stock. Add the toasted garlic chips and garlic oil to the sticky rice and mix loosely. If the rice isn’t glistening softly with oil, add duck fat or more oil.
Spread lotus leaf over bamboo steamer shelf. Ladle rice mixture onto the leaf evenly, making a bed for the chicken. Place chicken pieces over the rice and fold the edges of the leaf in. Place steamer in a wok filled with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn heat to a simmer. Check on chicken every 15 minutes until just cooked. If chicken is cooked and rice underneath is still raw, remove chicken and continue cooking rice over high heat. Remember: the chicken goes from translucent to opaque, the rice goes from opaque to translucent. If you’re stacking two steamer shelves, check both shelves – the bottom one will probably finish cooking sooner.
If you haven’t made your garnishes (below), do so while chicken rice is steaming.
Once chicken is cooked, remove from rice and hack it up with a cleaver. Bones should still be a little bloody inside and meat around bones should have a bit of pink. Nestle hacked chicken back on top of the cooked rice. Serve with cilantro and garnishes below.
Garnishes (Can Be Made Anytime)
Ginger Scallion Fuck-It-Up Sauce: place strained chicken stock in a small saucepan and reduce down to about 1/3 cup. While reducing, mince 2-3 scallions and 4-5 pieces of ginger (I like my cut-up pile of scallions to be roughly 3x bigger than my cut-up pile of ginger). Put in a bowl, salt liberally and add a heaping tablespoon of duck fat. Pour hot concentrated chicken stock immediately from stove onto the ginger scallion mixture. Stir immediately to melt the duck fat, dissolve the salt, and bloom the scallions and ginger. Store in fridge until ready to use.
Sweet Soy Sauce: boil equal parts sugar, dark soy, and water in a small saucepan until reduced by half. The consistency should be a thin drizzly syrup when cooled. Can be kept in a jar or bottle indefinitely.
Pickled Bird’s Eye Chilies: place fresh Bird’s Eye chilies in a jar and cover with rice vinegar. Add salt, sugar, and an optional slug of rice wine to taste. Submerge with a fermentation weight or Ziploc filled with water and taste after a couple of weeks. Keeps un-refrigerated…forever?
