Although this chicken might be cooked In A Jiffy, it is just as 'wat' and tender and is not second to the mccoy way of cooking the 'Chicken' for Hainanese Chicken Rice. To get the 'wat' texture for the chicken, I used the microwave to cook the chicken and to acquire this task, you would have to use 1/2 the power of your microwave oven's wattage. You would have to know your microwave oven's wattage and most microwave ovens come in various wattage, as high as 1500 to as low as 600. I am having a 900 watts microwave oven and there is a selection of power levels from 1 - 10. I used 1/2 the power which is power level 5, therefore it would be 450 wattage. If your microwave have no selection of power level, i would suppose that there are only 2 levels, high and defrost. So, in this case, use defrost but you might have to cook the chicken longer to get it totally cooked. Do not attempt to use HIGH.
As microwave will be attracted to liquid, the liquid that has oozed out has to be removed so that the microwave will cook the meat and not be attracted to the liquid, thus cooking the chicken faster.
A saucer is used to raise the chicken so that the chicken will not be cooking in the liquid that has been oozed out.
Ingredients:
4 lb chicken - washed and drained dry
Method:
Place a saucer in a microwave-safe bowl and put the chicken, breast side down.
Cover with a splatter which has been wrapped with plastic wrap.
Microwave on power level 5 /half the power for 10 minutes.
Remove all the liquid that has oozed out and leave aside
Repeat cooking for another 10 minutes and remove liquid.
Repeat cooking for another 10 minutes, this time overturn the chicken, breast-side up.
Check for doneness - when pricked at the thigh and the liquid oozed out is clear and no more pinkish, chicken is cooked through.
Leave to cool before serving.
Use the liquid accumulated to cook the Hainanese rice.
3 tbsp oil/margarine/chicken oil
1 tbsp chopped garlic and shallots
1/2 tbsp chopped ginger
3 cups rice, washed and drained
4 1/2 cups chicken stock(use the stock from the above and top with water)
1 tsp salt to taste
2 pieces of pandan leaves
METHOD
Heat up oil, saute chopped garlic and shallot and ginger until fragrant.
Add rice, salt and mix well.
Dish into a rice cooker, add chicken stock, pandan leaves and taste(add more salt if required).
Leave to cook until dry and fluffy.
Hainanese Chicken Rice
18 comments:
Hi Lily,
Would you recommend seasoning the chicken only after it has been completely cooked, or at any point during the cooking process? And if so, what kind of seasoning should be used?
I have been wanting to cook Hainanese Chicken Rice but looking through the procedures make me give up. I am impressed that using microwave can cook Hainanese Chicken Rice! I will give it a try! However, may I know what seasoning you used to marinate the chicken? Also, how to prepare the chili? Thanks!
jane S and anonymous
i did not use any salt or seasonings at all. When the chicken is ready for serving, will sometimes just drizzle oyster sauce or top the chicken with shredded green onions and then heat up some oil and when oil is hot, drizzle it all over the green onions.
the recipe for the chilly sauce is
http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2010/03/gingery-chilli-sauce.html
This is wonderful.I didnt know you could make this using the microwave.I hope you could add this Hainanese chicken widget at the end of this post so we could add you in our list of food bloggers who blogged about recipes for Hainanese chicken,Thanks!
alisa
i have put the widget and am confused at the image part. please help
I made this as your instructions and was a big hit! I'm usually not a fan of chicken breast, but this one turned out so tender and juicy, I had a little more than I usually would!
Thanks for such a quick and easy dinner!
Hi Lily
Thinking to cook Chicken Rice this Friday. My question is there is only 2 of us and we don't need a whole chicken. Would you kindly let us know how can we go about cooking the chicken. We are thinking of buying chicken drumstick. And how would you recommend us to season and cook the drumstick. Would be helpful if you could give us the measurement as well. Thank you much
anonymous
yes, chicken drumsticks can be used. Microwave the same way but of course the cooking time will be much shorter. There is no seasonings, just cook it plain.
Usually the methods are complicated & I never tried.Tried yours w/a bone-in chicken breast. My splatter is bigger than my Corning container so I just used its glass lid. Yielded some liquid. The second time, I left the lid ajar and no liquid, perhaps all escaped. I checked with the instant reader.I added 5 mins cos not quite there yet and it's too well done. Why use wrapped up splatter?
wendy
i cover the splatter with plastic wrap so that the casserole can be covered tightly in order to catch the steam. You can use the casserole cover if there is one. When there is a little liquid then the microwave temp. used is correct. High heat will cook the flesh too fast and alot of liquid will ooze out and make the chicken not so juicy.
you chicken could be done after you have let it rest for at least 10 minutes. There is still residual heat and it will continue to cook the chicken. The wonderful part with the microwave is, you can always zap the slightly uncooked chicken by the seconds.
Thanks. I love this jiffy method. I am going to try it again. I like to dip it in grated ginger in cooked oil. Is there an efficient way to collect the grated ginger? I ended up using my finger nails to pull them from each of the holes.
wendy
i use the microplane zester/grater to grate the ginger and all i have to do is to just give it a bang and all the ginger will be out.
Microplane is a great idea. I have one and hardly use it. Do you know anything about the Japanese ceramic ginger grater?
Thanks.
wendy
i have a plastic ginger grater and it works fine too.
Lily, I have a 1580 watt microwave oven. What power level do you suggest for cooking chicken "in a jiffy" while retaining moistness?
ruth
say you have power level 1 - 10, one level would be about 158 watts, so i would say use no.2 level and it will be great. Remember to remove the juice after every cycle, as microwave attacks liquid more and it will take longer cooking time if there is liquid.
Thank you Lily. Excited to try this tomorrow :) Say hello to Sandra for me.
ruth
happy chinese new year.
when are you coming to visit us?
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