Cơm Gà Hải Nam (Hainanese Chicken Rice)

Ingredients

• 1 3-4 lbs Whole chicken
• 2 cups Long-grain rice
• 3 oz Ginger
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 4 stalks Green onions
• 8 cups Chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons Salt
• 1 tablespoon Sesame oil
• 1 Cucumber

Instructions

1. 1Rinse the 3-4 lbs whole chicken under cold water. Place the 3-4 lbs whole chicken into a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Peel and thinly slice the 3 oz ginger. Peel and lightly crush the 4 cloves garlic. Cut the 4 stalks green onions into 3-inch pieces. Add the sliced 3 oz ginger, crushed 4 cloves garlic, and 3-inch pieces of 4 stalks green onions to the pot.
2. 2Pour the 8 cups of chicken broth into the pot. Place the pot on the stovetop over high heat and bring the liquid to a rolling boil, which occurs at 212°F (100°C). As soon as the liquid is boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot tightly with a lid, and let it simmer gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the chicken is cooked through and a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F (74°C).
3. 3Carefully remove the cooked 3-4 lbs whole chicken from the pot and place it on a clean plate or cutting board. Let the chicken cool for at least 15 minutes, which allows the juices to redistribute for a more tender texture. While the chicken cools, pour the 8 cups of chicken broth from the pot through a fine-mesh sieve into a separate bowl or container, discarding the cooked ginger, garlic, and green onion solids caught in the sieve.
4. 4Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove all the meat from the bones. Slice the chicken meat into uniform bite-sized pieces, approximately 1-inch thick.
5. 5Rinse the 2 cups of long-grain rice under cold running water in a fine-mesh sieve until the water runs clear. Add the rinsed 2 cups of long-grain rice to the now-empty large, heavy-bottomed pot. Pour in the reserved 8 cups of strained chicken broth. Place the pot on the stovetop over medium-high heat and bring the liquid to a boil. Once boiling, immediately reduce the heat to low, cover the pot tightly with a lid, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender; do not lift the lid during cooking.
6. 6Wash the 1 cucumber and thinly slice it into rounds, about 1/8-inch thick. Arrange these sliced 1 cucumber rounds around the edges of a large serving platter.
7. 7Once the rice is cooked, remove the pot from the heat and let it rest, covered, for 5 minutes. Then, fluff the cooked rice with a fork and spoon it onto the center of the serving platter, creating a bed. Arrange the sliced chicken meat evenly over the bed of rice. Drizzle the 1 tablespoon of sesame oil over the chicken and rice. Sprinkle the 2 teaspoons of salt evenly over the entire dish.

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