Vietnamese Inspired Hainanese Chicken Rice (Com Ga Hai Nam)

Hainanese chicken on a plate with rice and 2 dipping sauces.

3.67 from 3 ratings

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 chicken poached with aromatics and rice cooked in the poaching liquid. It is a yummy simple dish.

Prep Time20

Cook Time3

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese, Vietnamese

Keyword: com ga hai nam, hainanese chicken rice, hainanese chicken rice recipe

Servings: people

Calories: 1917kcal

Author: Becca Du

Equipment

Rice Cooker

Ingredients

Chicken

3 lb whole chicken
2 tbsp salt
3 cups rice cooking wine

Chicken Broth

3 lb pork any cut
1 yellow onion
2 oz ginger cut into chunks
½ cup dried scallops optional
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp granulated sugar
1 can chicken broth 14.5 oz

Fish Sauce Dipping Sauce

1 oz ginger minced
5 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp lemon juice

Soy Sauce Dipping Sauce

½ cup soy sauce
¼ tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp green onions
2 tsp ginger minced

Rice

2 shallots medium sized, minced
6 cloves garlic minced
3 cups rice

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cooking the chicken and making the broth

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 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat. Rinse 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.

Making the rice and serving the dish

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 from step 13. 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 the surface of the broth 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 the sauces. The chicken should be served cold.

Notes

You have the option to make only 1 dipping sauce for this dish. It is not necessary to make both.
Use a food processor to mince the ginger and garlic for the sauces. It's a lot easier than mincing all that garlic and ginger.
How can I shorten the cooking time? The best way to shorten the cooking time is to skip the part of the instructions with the pork. Simmering the pork takes the most time. Traditionally, Singaporeans don't use pork. They only poach the chicken and then use the poaching liquid to cook the rice. I offer more details in the blog post above.
How can I cook this dish without a rice cooker? Add the sauteed rice to a pot and add the broth until the top of the broth is 1/2 an inch from the top of the rice. Bring the water to a boil and then lower to a simmer. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the rice is cooked through. Add more water if the rice starts to look too dry during the cooking process.

Nutrition