I am loving my Instant pot, and starting to be proud of myself for cooking more. I know my husband and kids like Asian food more , therefore I am trying to find more recipes that they like. I am aiming for the dishes they order out in restaurants. If I can make the dishes, maybe we could eat out less, and it is healthier to eat at home anyway!
I have been following the Facebook Instant Pot Community. It’s a group of people who uses their instant pot and shares recipes. It’s wonderful to see a support group that have people from all over the world.
Everyone have been talking about the Hainanese Chicken. I decided to try it because my girls love the green onion ginger sauce. She can eat 2 bowls of rice herself if the sauce is available.
The recipe shared is from Jacky and Amy, Pressure Cook Recipes. The Hainanese Chicken dish is one of a national dish of Singapore. The dish adapted from early Chinese immigrants originally from Hainan province in southern China. It is also a popular dish in maylasia and Thailand. Lovely taste! Usually a whole chicken is used, but Jacky and Amy knew how busy our life is, so they used chicken leg instead to speed up the cooking process! It’s perfect for my life working full time, and driving 2 girls around to their extra-curricular classes.
In of the the steps, instructions are to plunge the chicken legs in ice cold water and rest on cooling rack. The reason is because that process wil help top the cooking process and firm up the skin. The cold water was found to make the texture more delicious. This is something new I have learned, and i guess that’s why many of the chicken dishes in Chinese restaurants, the chicken is served cold!
If you would like to make it an authentic dish, it is best to use “kampong” chicken. As you can see in my picture above, it doesn’t look like the original Hainanese Chicken. “Kampong” chicken really means that it’s chicken from the village. They get to be free and run around and eat whatever is there such as grass. These chicken have an amazing “chicken” flavour.
Here in Canada, we call it “free range” chicken. It is the closest to Kampong chicken, but less skinny, and still runs free instead of being in a cage. I should have used this type of chicken for my dish, and the look of it would be better.
Instant Pot Hainanese Chicken Rice Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 whole chicken legs (or “free range” chicken leg)
- 3 green onions, cut 2 inches long
- 1 shallot, roughly minced
- 6 cloves garlic, roughly minced
- 2 tablespoons ginger, sliced
- 1 ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- ½ cup chicken stock from the chicken legs pot
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Remaining chicken stock
- Water
- Chopped green onions for garnish
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- ½ tablespoon chicken stock from the chicken legs pot
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 drops sesame oil
- 1 stalk green onions, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon ginger, grated
- 1 ½ tablespoon peanut oil, heated
- Salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons hot sauce
- 2 tablespoons ginger, grated
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 teaspoon chicken stock from the chicken legs pot
Tools Needed:
- Pressure Cooker /Instant Pot
- Fine mesh strainer
- Measuring cup
Let’s start cooking!
Steps:
- Heat up your Instant pot by pressing Sauté. The indicator will say HOT.
- Pour in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the green onions, minced shallot, minced garlic and sliced ginger, then sauté for about 2 minutes.
- Pour in 1 ½ cup of water and deglaze the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Add 1 tablespoon of sea salt to the water mixture in the pot and mix well. Place the chicken legs into the pot. Close lid and pressure cook at High Pressure for 8 minutes. Then turn off the heat and use Natural Release for about 10-15 minutes.
- Open the lid and carefully remove the chicken legs from the pot. It is easier to use a pair of kitchen tongs. Place the chicken legs in an ice bath or place it under running cold tap water. Then, place them on a metal cooling rack to firm up the skin.
- Pour the chicken stock through a strainer to filter out the ingredients. Mix ½ cup of chicken stock and ½ cup of water in a mixing bowl. Check to make sure it is not too salty as it will be used to cook the chicken rice with it.
- Heat up your clean pressure cooker by pressing the Sauté button, pour in one tablespoon of olive oil and sauté 2 cloves of minced garlic in the pot. Add in a cup of jasmine rice and immediately add in the 1 cup chicken stock + water mixture. Close lid and pressure cook at High Pressure for 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and fully Natural Release for 10 minutes.
- Place the freshly grated ginger in a small bowl. Pour in 1 ½ tablespoon of HOT peanut oil, 1 stalk of finely chopped green onions and mix well. Add salt to taste.
- Mix all the listed ingredients together to make the Sweet Soya Sauce.
- Mix all the listed ingredients together to make Chilli Chicken Sauce.
- You can use the chicken broth as it is both tasty and healthy. Heat the chicken stock in a sauce pan. Bring it to a light boil. Garnish with chopped green onions and serve on the side.
I hope you enjoyed it as much as my family did!!
I made some and packed it for lunch to eat at work. =)
Simply Blessed 