Natt's Chiggin

• servings: 8
• active time: Lots

Ingredients

Marinade:

6 x Chicken Thigh Cutlet with Skin

1/2 x Bunch of Spring Onions sliced into 1/4 stalks

100g x Freshly peeled Ginger

6 x freshly peeled garlic cloves gently crushed (crushed enough to split the surface but still held together)

1-2 x Tablespoons Salt

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Cooking the Chickie:

Marinated chicken mixture

1 1/2 x cup of water

Bowl of water with ice

Pressure Cooker

Steaming rack/basket

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Spring Onion Garnish:

100g thinly sliced spring onions

4x cloves crushed fresh garlic

40g of crushed fresh ginger

1/4 tbsp of salt

1/2 cup peanut oil

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Rice Prep:

8 x Cups of rice (Cinney: I only used 4 cups!)

4 tbsp of spring onion garnish (Cinney: Similarly, I only used 2 tbsp)

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Optional Garnish (by Cinney) :

Cucumber slices

Coriander

Directions

"I don't Measure" Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe

I cook intuitively so these measurements are an estimate, proceed at your own peril!

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Serves 8

Marinade prep: 6 hours min.

Cooking Time: 2 - 2 1/2 hours

Chicken (Prep Beforehand) Allow for at least 6 hours

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Marinade

6 x Chicken Thigh Cutlet with Skin

1/2 x Bunch of Spring Onions sliced into 1/4 stalks (don't worry about cutting these, you will throw them away after marinating)

100g x Freshly peeled Ginger, sliced into 20 cent sized pieces

6 x freshly peeled garlic cloves gently crushed (crushed enough to split the surface but still held together)

1-2 x Tablespoons Salt

1. Combine all ingredients into a mixing bowl and massage it throughly into the chicken.

2. Cover the bowl with glad wrap and let it marinade for 6 hours or 1/2 a day. Preferably I will do this over night for better flavour.

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Cook the Chickie

I use an instant pot (pressure cooker) for this process but perhaps a steaming process might be a similar approach. I would google for an alternative just in case lol

Marinated chicken mixture

1 1/2 x cup of water

Bowl of water with ice

Pressure Cooker

Steaming rack/basket

1. Place a steaming rack/basket into the pot

2. Add 1 1/2 cups of water

3. Place marinated chicken mixture onto rack

4. Pressure cook on high for 1 hr. Complete spring onion garnish and rice prep before resuming step 5.

5. The liquid at the bottom of your pot is now your chicken rice broth! (angelic choir) Discard spring onion remanence.

6. Transfer cooked chicken to the bowl of water with ice to stop the cooking process. Have enough water to submerge all the chicken.

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Spring Onion Garnish

100g thinly sliced spring onions (Cinney: I diced with a sturdy knife)

4x cloves crushed fresh garlic (Cinney: I used a garlic press)

40g of crushed fresh ginger (Cinney: I used a small grater)

1/4 tbsp of salt

1/2 cup peanut oil

1. Add all ingredients to a bowl. ( I put them into a glass tupperware for easier storage later)

2. Pour peanut oil into a pan and heat. ( Chuck a spring onion to check if it bubbles. If it bubbles it is ready) (Cinney: Don't wait too long or your spring onion will explode oil everywhere...)

3. Gradually pour the hot oil over your ingredients evenly. You want the oil to just cover the mixture. Heat more oil if needed. Mix

If required, add salt to taste

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Rice Prep

8 x Cups of rice (Cinney: I only used 4 cups!) https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/productdetails/766937/sunrice-white-rice-low-gi

4 tbsp of spring onion garnish (Cinney: Similarly, I only used 2 tbsp)

1. Wash rice thoroughly and strain to remove as much of the excess water

2. Combine 2 cups of rice at a time to a pan with 1 tbsp of the garnish and saute enough to coat all the rice grains. Remove into a rice cooker and repeat the steps until all rice is covered.

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Rice Cooking

1. Add the chicken broth to your rice in the rice pot according to your rice cookers cooking ratio. (If you find there isn't enough broth, add water or even some chicken stock if available. If I mix water, I taste to check if the flavour is still there, otherwise i might add salt to taste. Yes..my recipe has a lot of salt. Sorry not sorry! )

2. Turn your rice cooker on until its cooked. I let it sit for as long as want after the timer has completed just to make sure the grains are cooked.

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Plating

1. You can either grab a meat cleaver and slice the chicken with the bone into thick pieces or you can take the bone out and then slice with a normal knife and serve

2.Grab your spring onion garnish and fluff up your rice and serve

Congratulations - I commend you for scrolling to the bottom of this oh so long and boring inaccurate recipe. Enjoy!

Notes

Cinney: Garnish with cucumber and coriander when plating.

I've also edited some of the instructions with Natt's latest edits.

Don't worry if the chicken looks a bit red when it comes out of the pressure cooker. If the meat comes apart easily, that means it is cooked. You can also expect chicken thigh to be darker than chicken breast. In fact, traditional Chinese expectations of this dish is for the meat to still have red parts! If it's all brown, that can be considered "overcooked". But of course, cook according to your preferences!