Hainanese Chicken Rice

Ingredients

For the chicken

1/2 chicken (free range) - washed and cleaned

2 stalks green onion - cut into 3 parts

4 slices of ginger

4 cloves garlic - unpeeled and lightly smashed

1/2 tsp salt

one pot of water (enough to immerse the chicken)

Seasonings for brushing the cooked chicken

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp brandy (optional)

1/2 tsp sesame oil

For the rice

11/2 cups of rice

3 cups of chicken stock

reserved chicken fat or 1 tbsp oil

1 tsp minced ginger

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp minced shallot

pinch of salt

For garnishing

sliced cucumber

sliced green onion

To make dipping sauce B

1 tbsp sweet thick soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

To make dipping sauce C

1 small bulb ginger - peeled and grated

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

Method
To cook chicken

1. Wash chicken and remove excess fat (reserve the fat for the rice).
2. Bring a pot of water to boil.  Add the chicken, green onion, ginger, garlic and salt and bring to a boil again.
3. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer under low heat for 30 minutes.  Turn off heat and let it steep for another 10 minutes.
4. Remove chicken from pot and rinse with cold water.  Rub chicken with salt, brandy and sesame oil.  Set aside and let it cool before chopping into pieces.
5. Transfer the chicken pieces to a serving plate and garnish with green onions and sliced cucumber.
6. Serve the chicken rice dish with the soup and dipping sauce.

To cook rice

1. Wash rice and drained.  Let it stand for 10 minutes.
2. Heat up a pan over medium heat.  Fry the chicken fat for a while.. Add ginger, garlic and shallot and saute until fragrant.  Add rice and salt and fry to mix well.
3. Transfer to a rice cooker and add chicken stock.
4. When rice is cooked, remove the chicken fat.

Dipping sauce
A)Garlic chilli (i used bottled one)
B)sweet thick soy sauce mixed with sesame oil
C)grated ginger mixed with soy sauce and sesame oil