It arrived with traders from China's Hainan island and is a direct cousin of the Hainanese chicken rice of Singapore and Malaysia. In Bangkok it works as a mid-morning breakfast-lunch, and every stall stakes its reputation on its ginger, soy and fermented-bean sauce: the poached chicken is almost always flawless, the sauce decides who rules the street.
Ingredients
chicken (legs or half a bird), 500 g
jasmine rice, 2 cups
chicken fat, 2 tbsp
chicken poaching broth, 2 cups
grated ginger, 40 g
garlic, 3 cloves
light and dark soy sauce, 3 tbsp combined
fermented soybean paste (taochiao), 1 tbsp, plus chili-vinegar on the side
550–750 kcal per typical serving.
per full plate including its fatty rice; the sauce barely adds (estimated from the typical recipe)
Poach the chicken in water with ginger and scallion: 12-15 min over low heat, turn it off, let it rest covered, then shock it in ice water to tighten the skin.
Render the chicken fat, fry the garlic and raw rice in it for a minute, then cook the rice with the poaching broth, equal parts.
Pound ginger and garlic with both soys, the fermented bean paste and a splash of vinegar: this is where the dish is decided.
Chop the chicken into pieces with a cleaver and serve it over the fatty rice with cucumber slices.
The sauce and chili-vinegar come on the side in small bowls, with the clear broth served alongside to sip.
