Hainanese Chicken

1. Wash, trim and dry the whole chicken and ensure the inners, especially the lung, is removed. Otherwise, the chicken will remain bloody and uncooked.
2. Dredge the chicken in boiling water, filling the cavity with water. You may need to bring it in and out of the water several times. Then take the whole chicken out and put it into a large bowl of ice water for an ice bath to tighten the skin. The ice bath tightens and gives the chicken skin a springy-fresh texture. This step is optional if you plan to sous vide chicken.
3. Generously salt the chicken both on the inside and outside of the cavity.
4. Stuff green onions, pandan leaves, kaffir leaves, and ginger into the chicken cavity.
5. Dissolve turmeric with cold drinking water in a small bowl. Mix well. Turmeric powder dissolves better in cold water without clumping together than in hot water.
6. Add dissolved turmeric water and broth into the sous vide bag or ziplock bag.
7. Depending on the size of the chicken, ensure enough liquid to fill the cavity of the chicken.
8. Squeeze out as much air as possible and seal the sous vide bag with a vacuum sealer machine.
9. Set the sous vide device to 160F (71C) for 3 hours. I love my bluetooth capable Anova Sous Vide!
10. Remove the vacuum-sealed chicken pack from the Sous Vide after 3 hours.
11. Remove the chicken from the bag. Discard aromatics. Let rest.
12. Strain Hainanese Chicken Broth through a sieve and reserve the delicious chicken broth! Do not discard. This flavorful soup is where all the chicken essence is! It is liquid gold!

Hainenese Chicken Rice

1. Wash and drain the jasmine rice. Set aside.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a non-stick pan or wok at medium high heat.
3. Once the oil is hot, add garlic, ginger and shallots to the non-stick pan. Stir fry until fragrant. Ensure it does not burn.
4. Add rice to the wok and stir fry. Ensure the oil evenly coats the rice.
5. Remove the rice from the heat and add it to the rice cooker.
6. Next, add in the leftover Hainanese chicken broth, pandan leaves, green onions, and ginger.
7. Set to white rice mode and cook the Hainanese Chicken Rice.

Ginger Scallion Sauce

1. Add minced ginger, scallions and salt to a small sauce bowl.
2. Heat oil over low-medium heat.
3. Pour cooked oil on top of the mixture. Mix well. Set aside.

Red Chili Sauce

1. Add all the ingredients (minced Bird's Eye Chili, diced garlic cloves, grated ginger, fresh lime juice, sugar, salt and a spoonful of the flavorful stock) in a small sauce bowl.
2. Mix well and set aside.

Garlic Chips

To make fried garlic chips, shallow fry diced garlic in vegetable oil over low-medium heat in a non-stick pan. Simmer until golden brown and remove from heat.

Sweet Soy Sauce

1. Add vegetable oil from garlic chips to a small sauce bowl.
2. Add dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, leftover chicken broth, fried garlic chips and slices of ginger into a small bowl. Mix well to incorporate.
3. Set aside.

Assembly

1. De-bone if desired and section the sous vide gently poached chicken.
2. Brush the chicken with a dash of sesame oil if desired.
3. Add a dash of salt and plate.
4. Serve with chicken-broth-cooked rice with cucumbers and garnish with fresh cilantro and finely chopped green onions.
5. Serve with dipping sauces on the side.

Serve and enjoy!