Hainanese-Style Chicken Rice in Clay Pot (Hainan Ji Fan)
- camissonia
- Oct 25
- 1 min read
Hainanese chicken rice, a very popular dish in Singapore and Malaysia, traces its origins to Hainanese immigrants from Southern China. The simplicity of this dish belies the complexity of its flavors: it's essentially chicken and rice cooked in chicken stock, flavored with aromatics like ginger, scallions and garlic, and served with a chili-garlic-ginger dipping sauce on the side. Traditionally, a whole chicken is poached for this dish, with some of the stock reserved to cook the rice in, but I opted to use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for ease of preparation. A clay pot is not necessary to make this recipe (you can just use a pot or wok with a lid), but I like to use one because it makes a really nice presentation. My rice of choice is Jasmine for its flavor and texture, which I sauté first in a little vegetable oil and sesame oil along with some ginger slices, smashed garlic cloves, and scallion sections for extra oomph (cooking raw rice first in a little oil is very similar to the way you would start off a risotto or pilaf). My dipping sauce is a combination of soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, fresh chiles, garlic, and lots of ginger.
1
Note on the sauce:
*Totole Chicken Powder is available in most Asian markets and also on Amazon. An ok substitute is low sodium canned chicken broth.
Notes
1
Place the chicken broth and chicken thighs together in a medium pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes to an hour, turning the chicken thighs over 2-3 times during the cooking time. Turn off heat and set aside.
2
Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil and 1 tsp sesame oil in a saute pan over medium high heat. Add the garlic, ginger slices and scallion and toss 10-20 seconds or until fragrant. Add the jasmine rice with 1/8 tsp of white pepper and sauté 1-2 minutes or until the rice has absorbed the oil and is translucent.
3
Pour the rice into a clay pot and top with the chicken thighs; add 2 cups of the chicken poaching broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer; cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the rice is just cooked through. If you don't have a clay pot, no worries - just use the same sauté pan (as long as it's deep enough) or a pot, add the chicken and poaching liquid, cover, and cook as noted above.
4
Combine all the dipping sauce ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
5
After 20 minutes, check the rice in the clay pot - if it's a little undercooked or on the dry side, add a few tablespoons of the reserved chicken broth, cover, and let sit for another 10-15 minutes.
6
Garnish the rice with sliced scallions and chopped cilantro, and serve with the dipping sauce on the side.
Instructions
4 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 lbs)
6 cups chicken broth (6 cups water + 2 tbsp Totole chicken powder*)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp sesame oil
3 cloves garlic smashed
2 slices fresh ginger
1 scallion cut into 1" sections
1 1/2 cups jasmine rice
1/8 tsp white pepper
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
6 tbsp water
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp sugar
1 Fresno chili seeded and chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2 scallions finely chopped
Dipping Sauce
Sliced scallions
Chopped cilantro
Garnish
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Hainanese-Style Chicken Rice in Clay Pot (Hainan Ji Fan)
Prep Time
25 min
Cooking Time
30 min
Rest Time
0 min
Total Time
55 min
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