chicken and rice

i have never really understood the point of arraying things on a plate in separate areas, only to turn around and stuff it all into your mouth at the same time anyway. why not save your guests the trouble of cutting everything up? of course, there are exceptions to this rule, because a world where everything resembles chopped salad is a depressing world, but chicken and rice isn’t fancy. it’s…chicken and rice. every culture has their own version of it, making it pretty much the universal comfort food.

this is the hainanese chicken from mark bittman’s column a few weeks ago, tweaked here and there. the basic method is to poach an entire chicken, then shred it and its accompaniments together into one delicious pile. this is a chicken and rice that would silence all of those people who believe that chinese food is, above all, greasy and heavy, yet it still remains identifiably chinese in its flavors. and now i’ll stop pretending i have any substantive knowledge of chinese cuisine. knowing how to make your mother’s dumplings and spring rolls doesn’t really qualify you as an expert on the entirety of chinese cuisine, last time i looked.

i do, however, know good food when i…see… it. you know what i mean. this chicken is pretty phenomenal – it doesn’t get much better than this. the drawback: it just takes a while to put it all together. fortunately, you can do the prep while the chicken cooks, so you can feel like you’re being efficient, even if it’s not actually true and dinner takes two hours to go from the fridge to the table. for people who like ingredient efficiency, you’ll be pleased to note that you cook the rice in the broth produced from poaching the chickens.

hainanese chicken
(adapted from mark bittman)

1 4-lb chicken, fat trimmed and put aside
5-6 large cloves garlic, smashed, plus 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
6-7 1/8″ thick slices of ginger (~1/4c in volume), plus 3-4T ginger, minced
and yet more ginger: keep a piece the size of a few walnuts to grate for the dressing
1 medium onion, diced fine
2c long-grain white rice (this is better with white rice than brown rice)
4-5 scallions, trimmed and chopped, at least 1/2 cup
2-3 lbs tomatoes, diced
1/2c cilantro, chopped fine
2T sesame oil
1T soy sauce

1. bring a large pot of water to a boil. lower the chicken into the water slowly and drop the whole cloves of garlic and slices of ginger into the water, around the chicken. let the chicken cook at medium heat for about 10-15 minutes (you can always cook the chicken a bit more later), covered, then turn off the heat and let the chicken sit, covered, for 45 minutes.

2. while you’re waiting for the chicken, you can do the rest of your vegetable prep – dicing onions and tomatoes, chopping herbs, etc. when the 45 minutes is close to being up, start sauteing the onion, minced garlic, and minced ginger in a large saucepan with a bit of butter, or whatever oil/fat you have on hand, as long as it’s not olive oil. cook them until they’re translucent, about 10 minutes.

3. use a pair of tongs remove the chicken from its pot and put it on a platter or in a bowl. add the rice to the sauteed onions with a bit more butter/oil and stir to coat all the rice. let it cook for about a minute, then add 4 cups of broth from the pot. let the rice come to a boil over medium heat, then turn heat to low and cook, covered, until the rice is done, ~20-30 minutes.

4. pull the chicken apart at the joints to cool it. while it’s cooling, grate the ginger into a bowl, and then make the dressing: stir the sesame oil into the grated ginger, then whisk in some soy sauce – you can add more soy sauce if you want, now or later, when everything has been mixed together. when the chicken is cool enough to handle, pull the meat off and shred it into a large serving bowl. add the dressing and toss to coat.

5. when the rice is done, toss all of the vegetables (tomatoes, herbs) with the chicken. you can add more salt if you want – either soy sauce or kosher salt. you can either mix the rice into the chicken, or serve the chicken on top of the rice in bowls.

6. you’ll probably have some broth left over – you can reduce it and put it in the fridge for future use.

[serves 5 hungry people, or 6-8 not-very-hungry people]