Pressure Cooker Hainanese Chicken Rice

Cook Time 3 hours

Servings 4-6

Ingredients

1 whole chicken (about 1.8 kg), a little of the fat trimmed and reserved
5cm piece of ginger, slice lengthways into 6 pieces
1 bulb of garlic, cut in half
5 spring onions, dark green tops only (rest used for sauce)
1 long red chilli, cut in half lengthways
4 coriander roots and stalks, cleaned, and leaves reserved for garnish
Pinch salt
2 star anise
2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil, for basting

1 large cucumber, sliced on an angle
1 tomato, sliced
Chilli sauce, to serve

Ginger and garlic sauce
4 cm piece ginger
2 cloves garlic
5 spring onions, white and light green parts only
1 tbsp soy
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp chicken broth, strained from chicken stockpot

Rice
1 tsp ginger, finely grated
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cups jasmine rice, rinsed well
2 cups chicken broth, strained from chicken stockpot

Method

Place the chicken in the pressure cooker along with ginger, garlic, chilli, the dark green part of the spring onions, coriander roots and stalks, star anise, Chinese cooking wine and soy and a pinch of salt. Cover with cold water. Now place the lid on and bring to pressure before turning the heat down and cooking for 30 minutes. Now remove from the heat and follow your pressure cooker instructions to remove the lid.

For the ginger and garlic sauce, place the garlic, ginger and white and light green parts of the spring onions into a food processor and blitz until just combined. Add the vegetable oil and soy sauce and blitz again. Set aside.

To prepare the rice, in a medium pot render the reserved chicken fat until you have about 1 tablespoon of liquid. Discard the pieces of chicken fat and fry the ginger and onion in the liquid until soft. Add the rice and coat in the mixture. Add 2 cups of the chicken broth, a pinch of salt and bring to the boil. Now turn down and cover with a lid and cook for a further 10 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid. Turn the heat off and rest for 10 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the fragrant broth and place on a plate. Brush all over with the sesame oil. Cover tightly with cling film and allow to rest in a warm spot.

Add three tablespoons of the stock to the garlic and ginger sauce and stir well. Using a fine sieve, strain the remaining stock into a clean pot and bring to the boil, then reduce by a third.

Once the broth has reduced by a third it is ready to serve. Ladle into individual soup bowls. Cut the chicken and distribute onto 4 separate plates. Garnish each with cucumber, tomato, coriander leaves and spring onions sliced on an angle and serve with the rice, broth and sauces.