One-Pot Hainan Chicken Rice. Savory, tender, silky chicken thighs with a flavorful rice. This Chinese chicken dish is ready in one pan in 30-minutes!
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What is Hainan Chicken Rice?
Hainan Chicken Rice is a delicious chicken dish known for it's clean taste and simple ingredients. It features tender chicken meat with savory rice and the best part is the chicken skin! It's served with a couple sauces like sweet chili sauce and a Chinese Green Onion Sauce.
This chicken is famous Chinese dish that originates from China and has become popular in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. You'll find it served as a main dish at many Chinese restaurants. The chicken is steamed over the rice in chicken broth, ginger, garlic, green onion and soy sauce. It's actually one of my favourite meals since it's easy to prepare in one pot reducing the number of dishes to wash later!
My version also tastes very close to the original cooking method, which usually takes a lot of prep work and time due to the lengthy process of boiling and chilling the chicken for that bouncy skin. When I was a young girl, I remember watching my mother make it using the traditional method and thankfully I found a faster way to make this dish that yields a similar taste profile (sorry Mom!)
Ingredients
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.Β
- Boneless chicken thighs with skin on: or source bone-in skin-on chicken thighs and debone the chicken thighs yourself using a sharp paring knife gliding the knife around the bone until it comes out.
- Jasmine rice: or substitute with a white long-grain rice
- Chicken broth
- Fresh garlic cloves
- Fresh ginger
- Green onions
- Neutral oil:Β like avocado oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil with a high smoke point. Avoid olive oil or any heavy scented oils with a low smoke point.
- Regular soy sauce:Β or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce.Β If youβre gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce of your choice.Β
- Salt: to clean the chicken skin to make it shiny and bouncy. This makes a big difference to the texture and a common technique used for hainan chicken rice.
- Store-bought Sweet chili Sauce or homemade Chinese green onion sauce: for serving
Expert Tips
- Use fresh chicken thighs! I always do a smell test on the chicken before purchasing it. If there's a heavy odor, put it back and get a fresher one.
- Make sure to rub the chicken skin with salt to create a bouncy skin. The skin should feel very "clean" and smooth.
- Rinse rice a few times until the water runs clear before transferring it to your wok or pan.
- Do not submerge the chicken into the rice. Just lay it over top of the rice otherwise it can overcook.
How to make One-Pot Hainan Chicken Rice
- Rub 1.5 teaspoon of salt on the skin of your chicken thighs until they're shiny and smooth. Pat them dry with a paper towel. Set aside.
- Rinse jasmine rice with cold water a few times until water runs clear. Pour out the water. Transfer strained rice to a non-stick wok or large pan.
- Add chicken broth, vegetable oil, soy sauce, chopped ginger, garlic cloves, and remaining salt. Mix well.
- Place the chicken skin-side down on top of the rice and broth mixture. Then place the green onion over top. Cover with a lid.
- Bring the chicken and rice to boil on high heat. Once it comes to a boil, immediately reduce to low heat and cook for 12 minutes.
- After the 12 minute mark, shut off the heat (do not remove off the burner) and keep covered with a lid so the steam can evaporate the residual broth.
- Once there's no more liquids in the base of the pan, remove the green onion, ginger and garlic cloves. Slice cooked chicken with rice. Serve with sweet chili sauce and enjoy!
Storage & Reheating
Leftovers will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat, microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot or reheat in a pan on medium heat.
Other Chicken Recipes you may like!
- Soy Maple Glazed Chicken
- Sweet Soy Sauce Chicken
- Steamed Soy Ginger Chicken
- Oyakodon
- Maca-Style Baked Portuguese Chicken Rice
π Recipe
Quick & Easy One-Pot Hainan Chicken Rice
Ingredients
- 4 boneless chicken thighs with skin on
- 1 cup uncooked jasmine rice
- 1.5 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 2 cloves garlic peeled
- 2 inches ginger peeled & chopped
- 1 green onion chopped in half
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
- 2 teaspoon regular soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon salt
Optional Serving Sauces:
- sweet chili sauce
- green onion sauce click here for a homemade version
Instructions
- Rub 1.5 teaspoon of salt on the skin of your chicken thighs until they're shiny and smooth. Pat them dry with a paper towel. Set aside.
- Rinse jasmine rice with cold water a few times until water runs clear. Pour out the water. Transfer strained rice to a non-stick wok or large pan.
- Add chicken broth, vegetable oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic cloves, and remaining salt. Mix well.
- Place the chicken skin-side down on top of the rice and broth mixture. Then place the green onion over top. Cover with a lid.
- Bring the chicken and rice to boil on high heat. Once it comes to a boil, immediately reduce to low heat and cook for 12 minutes.
- After the 12 minute mark, shut off the heat (do not remove off the burner) and keep covered with a lid so the steam can evaporate the residual broth.
- Once there's no more liquids in the base of the pan, remove the green onion, ginger and garlic cloves. Slice cooked chicken with rice. Serve with sweet chili sauce and/or green onion sauce and enjoy!
Kim
So simple and yummy! A lot of other recipes call for 20+ ingredients. Thanks for sharing π
christieathome
Thank you so much for your kind review and for making my recipe, Kim! So glad you enjoyed my recipe!
Sandy
Can we make this in an instant pot on rice mode?
christieathome
Hi there, I haven't personally tried that for myself so I can't confirm that. But feel free to try and let me know the results π
Patty
Thanks for sharing this simple recipe. Itβs now part of my weekly rotation. I only got confused when you said to remove the ginger when in you list of ingredients you started to peel and chop it. I actually like the chopped ginger in the rice. You got THUMBS UP from my family!!!
christieathome
Thanks so much Patty for making my recipe! So glad you enjoy it on a weekly rotation! Yes feel free to keep the aromatics in your rice. Glad the whole family enjoys it!
Sandy
Just made this for my boyfriend and I and we both loved it! Very flavorful. I am a vegetarian, so I just ate the rice while my boyfriend enjoyed the juicy chicken and the rice, but I am not complaining at all! It was delicious.
christieathome
Thank you so much for making m recipe Sandy! I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed it with your boyfriend.
Linda
Totally delicious! So easy to make and tastes very similar to authentic version.
Molly
This hainan chicken rice was really yummy! So quick and easy to make. Thanks for sharing!
VL
This was so delicious! Quick and easy to make and super flavourful. Thanks for the recipe!