My family and I frequently dine at Malaysian restaurants, which seems so long ago since this COVID pandemic hit. Some of our favorites in New York City are Nyonya and Wok Wok in Manhattan. A dish that we never leave out of our order is Hainanese chicken, one of my dad’s all-time favorite. He loves dipping his chicken in the sweet/spicy chili sauce, and so do many of us! Ginger scallion sauce, which I will share my recipe for on this blog is also a good sauce option.
While there are a handful of satisfactory Asian restaurants here in the suburbs, where I have moved to, there aren’t any nearby Malaysian restaurants. For this reason, I have made Hainanese Chicken Rice countless times, either by boiling a whole chicken on the stovetop or taking a shortcut by using my Instant Pot and rice cooker. If you’re a fan of Hainanese chicken rice, try out my simpler recipe below and let me know your thoughts! Don’t forget to tag me @rackoflam on social media and/or subscribe to my YouTube channel!
Hainanese Chicken Rice in Instant Pot & Rice Cooker Recipe
Equipment
- Instant Pot
- Rice Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- ½ an onion
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 stalks scallions cut into 2" pieces
- large thumb ginger sliced
- 1½ cups salted chicken stock
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 3 large leg quarters See Note 1
- ice bath
- ½ tsp sesame oil (for the chicken) or to taste
- 2 cups Jasmine rice washed and drained well
- 1 tsp sesame oil (for the rice) or to taste
Instructions
- Press the "sauté" button on your Instant Pot.
- When the "hot" indicator turns on, pour 1 tbsp of oil into the pot, swirling to coat evenly.
- Transfer the diced onion, minced garlic, scallions and sliced ginger into the pot and stir for 30 seconds.
- Pour chicken stock into the pot.
- Add 1 tsp salt, or to taste, and stir until all ingredients are well blended. See Note 2.
- Place the leg quarters into the broth, skin side down.
- Cancel the "sauté" function, close the lid and pressure cook for 10 minutes. Make sure the steam valve is set to sealing position. When time is up, allow the Instant Pot to naturally release all pressure (which will take about 15 minutes).
- Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Transfer the chicken leg quarters into the ice bath, ensuring that the skin is completely submerged. Soak for about 5 minutes.
- While the chicken is soaking, strain all ingredients from the broth by pouring it through a sieve into a separate bowl. Taste the broth and adjust the salt according to taste.
- Prepare 2 cups of washed Jasmine rice in your rice pot and drain excess water out extremely well. Pour 2 cups of the broth into the rice pot along with 1 tsp of sesame oil and cook in your rice cooker per manual instructions. See Note 3.
- While the rice is cooking, line a dish with paper towel. Remove the chicken leg quarters from the ice bath and transfer them onto the paper towel, skin side down. When they are adequately dried, brush sesame oil onto the skin.
- When rice is done, assemble your Hainanese chicken rice and pair with some cucumbers, tomato and cilantro if you want! Don't forget popular sauces such as ginger scallion sauce, chili sauce or sweet soy sauce!
Video
Notes
- If you want cleaner, glossier chicken skin, scrub with some salt then rinse thoroughly. Optionally, you may trim excess skin and fat off (keep them if you plan to render oil to use in your Hainanese rice)
- You may add more salt if you are using unsalted chicken stock. This is the same broth that will be used for your rice, so adjust according to taste.
- Add more broth if you prefer your them softer. In place of the sesame oil, you may render oil from trimmed excess chicken skin/fat and use that in your rice.
