The Best One-Pot Hainanese Chicken Rice: Authentic Taste, Minimal Effort

Today, I am diving into a comforting and flavorful dish perfect for busy weeknights: One-Pot Hainanese Chicken Rice.

This recipe is a simplified version of the classic Hainanese chicken rice recipe. It aims to allow you to enjoy the rich flavors of Hainanese chicken rice without the fuss of complicated cooking steps, including poaching the chicken with the poultry hooks in the restaurant. You can also choose to use a rice cooker instant pot or cook it with the traditional stovetop method to make this ultimate comfort food with minimal effort.

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What is Hainanese Chicken Rice?

Hainanese chicken rice is a dish that originated in Hainan, China, and it is also popular in Southeast Asia, particularly in Malaysia and Singapore. It is prepared with either a whole chicken or boneless chicken thighs, served with fragrant rice cooked in chicken stock or broth, and accompanied by a ginger-garlic sauce. The advantage of this recipe lies in its simplicity, yet it delivers incredible flavor with minimal ingredients and a one-pot cooking method.

Why One-Pot Hainanese Chicken Rice?

The traditional way of making Hainanese chicken rice is time-consuming, as it involves poaching a whole chicken and preparing the rice separately. In contrast, this one-pot recipe simplifies cooking by placing chicken pieces directly on uncooked rice. This method allows the chicken’s juices to drip into the rice, enhancing its flavor.

You can simplify the method using a rice cooker, automatically switching to the “keep warm” setting once cooking is complete. Alternatively, a pressure cooker can reduce the cooking time significantly; follow the settings provided by your pressure cooker’s manufacturer.

Ingredients for the one-pot Hainanese chicken rice

For the Chicken

• Chicken. Chicken thighs are better than breasts as they have a higher fat content and a more tender texture.
• Salt to exfoliate the skin of the chicken (to be washed away)

For the Rice

• Jasmine rice
• Butter to sauté aromatics. Alternatively, vegetable oil or peanut oil can be used as a substitute.
• Spring onions (green onions) (finely chopped) to provide a refreshing flavor.
• Minced ginger, a few ginger slices, and one tablespoon of minced garlic to enhance the flavor. (See Pro tips below)
• Salt to season the rice.
• Chicken broth or the amount of stock as needed.
• Water
• Pandan leaves (optional) to provide the fragrance flavor.
• Chicken fat or chicken oil (optional) to fry the raw rice

For the soy sauce mixture 

• Light soy sauce (alternative: fish sauce)
• Dark soy sauce
• Oyster sauce
• Sesame oil
• Chicken broth
• Fresh lime juice (optional)

Mix all the above ingredients together.

For the Ginger scallion sauce: 

• Ginger
• Garlic
• Chicken broth
• Salt
• Vegetable oil

Blend the ginger, garlic salt, oil, and chicken broth until it becomes a paste.

For Serving

• Fresh cucumbers, sliced: A refreshing side that complements the dish.
• Scallion oil (optional): Drizzled on top for extra flavor.
• It is also best to serve with sweet chili sauce for heat.

Cooking Instructions for One-Pot Hainanese Chicken Rice

1. Rub the chicken skin with a tablespoon of salt and set aside for five minutes, then rinse away the extra salt. This step helps to tighten the skin as salt will draw out the extra moisture of the skin; it also denatures the protein, which causes it to contract and tighten up.

2. Heat the neutral cooking oil or chicken fat over medium heat. Add spring onions (scallion), minced ginger, and garlic cloves. Sauté until fragrant.

3. Rinse the uncooked rice with water several times. Drain the rice in a colander, then add to the pan and stir-fry for 30 seconds to coat it in oil.

4. Pour in the chicken broth, and then add salt to season. Make sure to scrape any rice stuck to the pot’s bottom. The amount of stock should be 1 to 1.5 times the volume of the uncooked rice, depending on whether you prefer the rice to be firm or soft. Also, add the ginger slices and pandan leaf (optional).

5. Place the chicken thighs on top of the rice without overlapping. Bring it to a gentle boil, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and reduce heat to barely simmer. Cook undisturbed for 30 minutes or until the rice is cooked.

6. After cooking, turn off the heat and let it sit covered for 10 minutes to finish cooking.

7. Mix the soy sauce by combining light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and chicken broth. (Drizzle on top of the chicken)

Mix the minced garlic, ginger, salt, chicken broth, and oil to prepare the ginger-garlic sauce. (Dipping sauce)

8. Slice the chicken and serve it over the rice with fresh cucumbers on the side. The One-Pot Hainanese Chicken Rice is ready.

Pro Tips for the Best Hainanese Chicken Rice

• Use a food processor to finely mince ginger slices and green onion for the ginger scallion sauce to save time if you make a large quantity.
• Chicken thighs are the best as they contain higher fat content and are more tender. You can use breast meat, but please ensure it’s cooked gently to avoid dryness, 
• Peanut oil, or oil rendered from chicken skin trimmings, can be used to sauté the rice. Chicken fat derived from sautéing the skin will give the best results. Olive oil may not be the best choice as it has no neutral flavor.
• If you are using a pressure cooker, cook at high pressure for 12 minutes, followed by a natural release of pressure. Please refer to the instructions provided by the brand of pressure cooker you use for accurate timing.
• Good chicken rice: The secret lies in using a sort of chicken with a higher fat content to enrich the rice.
• Finally, if you want to improve it, you can cook the whole chicken separately by poaching it in barely simmering water, then place it immediately into an ice bath. This method will prevent the chicken from overcooking, and at the same time, the ice bath helps to tighten the skin further and prevent it from detaching from the flesh.

This easy version of one-pot Hainanese chicken rice is not easy to prepare but also incredibly satisfying. Tender chicken pieces and fragrant rice make it a comforting meal everyone will love. If you’re looking for more easy recipes, this is a favorite recipe you must try.

If you want to try the traditional way of poaching an entire chicken, please read my Hainanese chicken rice blog post on the sister blog at Taste of Asian Food.

Other recipes for you to try

Here are more easy recipes that will save you time in the kitchen.

• One Pot Cajun Chicken and Rice
• Kai Jiew (Thai-style omelet)
• Instant Pot Honey Mustard Chicken