Vietnamese Inspired Hainanese Chicken Rice (Com Ga Hai Nam)

This famous Singaporean dish is also a favorite in Saigon where my family is from. Hainanese chicken rice is a dish that includes chicken poached with aromatics and rice cooked in the poaching liquid. It is a yummy simple dish that can be made for special occasions or a simple family dinner.

Hainanese Chicken Rice is perhaps my favorite chicken dish because I love how the chicken is cooked simply with a few ingredients. It is one of those dishes that represents what I love most about cooking – the simplicity. Dishes that are simple and clean but also tasty. My family however has it’s own way of making this chicken rice dish which takes a bit more time, but has a huge pay off in flavor. I go through the traditional method as well as my family’s method in this blog post, so you can choose which direction you want to go in when you make this dish.

What is Hainanese Chicken Rice?

This is considered one of the national dishes of Singapore and is often associated with Singaporean cuisine. It was created by immigrants from Hainan, China and is adapted from a dish called Wenchang chicken. There are however interpretations of this dish across Southeast Asia. In Vietnam, this is a popular dish in Saigon where my family is from. My mom has made this dish since I was kid but has learned and adapted it over time through stuff she’s learned from her friends, family, and other people she meets. The resulting dish and recipe is a blend of Chinese and Vietnamese ingredients, which is true to our family’s history.

How does my Hainanese chicken rice recipe differ from the traditional recipe?

There are a couple ways this recipe is different from how the Singaporeans make this dish. First, my family uses pork to make a broth before adding the chicken in. This does add to the cooking time, but it helps improve the flavor in the broth and also the rice which is cooked in the broth. We also use 2 different dipping sauces: one that uses fish sauce and one that uses soy sauce. The first is inspired by nuoc cham from Vietnamese cuisine. The second is inspired by Chinese cuisine. The Singaporeans use completely different dipping sauces.

Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments

Chicken

• Whole chicken – This dish requires one whole chicken. You can substitute with cuts of chicken, but make sure you have the correct amount (see recipe card below) and there is bone included in the cuts. Bone is what gives you the rich broth.
• Salt – Salt is used to clean and season the chicken
• Rice cooking wine – This is also used to clean and season the chicken. You can also use white wine or dry sherry as a substitute.

Chicken Broth

• Pork – You can use any cut of pork for this recipe. I would recommend a cut with some bone because that will make the richest broth.
• Yellow onion – Adds sweetness to the broth. Substitute with white onion.
• Ginger – Adds more flavor to the broth.
• Dried scallops (optional) – This is an optional ingredient, but it adds a lot of sweet and umami flavor to the broth. I highly recommend including it.
• Salt for seasoning
• Granulated sugar – Adds sweetness to the broth to balance out the savory flavors. My family uses rock sugar because it has more of a subtle sweetness, but regular sugars works too.
• Chicken broth – Adds more flavor to the broth.

Fish Sauce Dipping Sauce

This fish sauce dipping sauce is very similar to the Vietnamese dipping sauce or nuoc cham. It is made of ginger, garlic, sugar, fish sauce, water, and lemon juice. This is perhaps one of my favorite sauces in Vietnamese cuisine. It’s honestly so good. The ingredients in this sauce give it a nice balanced flavor.

Soy Sauce Dipping Sauce

This alternative dipping sauce is also packed with flavor and very versatile. It is made with soy sauce, sesame oil, green onions, and ginger. Substitute soy sauce with tamari to make this sauce gluten free. It can also be eaten with a variety of different proteins like my steamed chicken and it can also be used to make my ginger soy marinated eggs!

Rice

The rice is made by sautéing shallots, garlic, and rice before add in the broth. I use long grain jasmine rice for this recipe. The shallots and garlic give the rice an aromatic flavor. You can substitute shallots with yellow onion, but I wouldn’t recommend it because it will not yield the same flavor.

How to make Hainanese Chicken Rice

How to make the broth and poach the chicken

First, soak the scallops for at least 10 minutes. Rub the salt on the chicken. Add the rice cooking wine to a large bowl and add the chicken. Coat the chicken with the rice cooking wine. Refrigerate overnight. The next day, make the broth. Broil the onion and ginger in the oven for 10 minutes. Set aside. Add the pork to a large pot and cover it with water. Bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat. Clean the pork pieces and the pot. Add the pork back to the pot and add fresh water until it just covers the pork. Bring to a boil and skim off any impurities that you see. Lower to a simmer. Add the charred onion, ginger, dried scallops, and salt. Simmer for 2 hours.

While the soup is simmering, prep the rice ingredients and make both sauces. Rinse the rice until the water runs clear and mince the shallots and garlic. Set aside. Combine all the ingredients for both sauces and set aside. After 2 hours, take out the pork. Bring to a boil. Add the chicken and sugar to the pot, and let it boil for 5 minutes.

Next, add the chicken broth. Lower to a simmer and simmer for 30 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Make sure the water fully covers the chicken. Add more water if needed. Taste the broth to make sure the broth is salty enough for your preference.

After 30 minutes, check to make sure the chicken is cooked. Cooked chicken should have an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. Another trick is to poke the chicken and if the juices run clear, it’s done. Take the chicken out and put it in an ice bath (ice water). This stops the cooking process. Once cold enough, cut the chicken into pieces and store in the fridge until the rice is done. The soup should also be done at this point too. Skim off the chicken fat from the top and set aside.

How to make the rice

Now it’s time to make the rice! Over medium high heat, add the shallots and garlic to a large saute pan or pot with 1 tbsp of oil. Saute for 30 seconds until they start to brown. Add the rice and chicken fat. Saute until the rice turns a light brown color. Make sure to constantly mix so the rice is cooked evenly. Add the rice to a rice cooker. Add enough water until it is about 1/2 an inch above the top of the rice. Cook the rice for about an hour. Once done, serve the rice with the chicken and sauce.

How can I shorten the cook time of this dish?

This recipe is not a short one and probably something you would make on a Sunday if you have time. If you wish to shorten this recipe, I would not make this recipe with the pork. I would first prep the chicken by salting it and soaking it in rice cooking wine then boil it for 30 minutes (or until the chicken is cooked) with the rest of the ingredients for the broth. At this point, take out the chicken and place it in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Next, follow the instructions for sautéing the rice and then use the broth you just made to cook the rice. The flavor for the dish will be different, but this will cut down your cooking time. Additionally, this is closer to the Singaporean method of making this dish.

What do I do if I don’t have a rice cooker?

If you don’t have a rice cooker, place the sautéed rice in a large pot. Cover it with the broth until the surface of the broth is 1/2 an inch from the top of the rice. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the rice is cooked. Add more broth if the rice looks too dry during the cooking process.

Tips on how to make Hainanese Chicken Rice

1. You can use either or both sauces for this dish. Sometimes, I only eat this dish with one of the sauces.
2. Use a food processor to minced the ingredients for the sauces. It’s a lot easier than mincing all that garlic and ginger.

Did you make this dish?

If you made this dish, I would love to see!

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