This Sous Vide Hainanese Chicken is one of my most requested dishes by friends and family. It has the juiciest, most tender pieces of chicken served with two incredibly aromatic sauces. I kid you not, this is literally all my friends and family's favorite dish.
Can't get enough of sous vide? Try my Sous Vide Char Siu and Sous Vide Teriyaki Chicken next!
π₯‘ About This Recipe
This recipe is one of my MOST REQUESTED recipes by all my friends and family. I make it at least 10 times each year. The chicken is insanely juicy, and it's the most stress-free meal because you don't need to worry about overcooking anything.
I love serving the chicken with a side of ginger-scallion sauce and a spicy fish-fragrant sauce. The fish-fragrant sauce is not traditional, but it pairs exceptionally well and is always everyone's favorite. More on these below.
We'll also make delicious chicken rice to go with everything.
π The Chicken
I always use a whole chicken, but you can also use individual parts, like the legs or breasts. For the whole chicken, we'll need to butterfly/spatchock it so that each part is in contact with the plastic bag.
To butterfly/spatchcock, lay the chicken on a cutting board with its stomach down. Use kitchen shears to remove the backbone and make a small slit on the underside of the breastplate. Flip the chicken and press down firmly to flatten it.
After that, trim the excess fat and skin from the chicken, which we'll use for the chicken rice.
I like cooking the chicken in a 150Β°F water bath for 3-4 hours. Technically, it only needs 2 hours to fully cook, but the meat gets a little more tender the longer you go.
π The Chicken Rice
For the chicken rice, we'll need to render the leftover fat and skin from the chicken.
STEP 1: Place the trimmed fat and skin in a small pot with Β½ cup of water. Boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the water evaporates and the fat is rendered. Strain the fat into a small bowl. You should have about three tablespoons of fat.
STEP 2: Heat the chicken fat in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add rice and cook for 3.5 minutes until it turns opaque in some areas and smells toasty.
STEP 3: Add chicken stock (or water) and mix well. If you have a rice cooker, pour everything in it and cook it on the white rice setting. If you don't, reduce the heat to low, cover, and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.
π« Ginger-Scallion Sauce
The ginger-scallion sauce is ginger, scallions, oil, salt, and toasted sesame oil. It's super aromatic, and one of my favorite sauces for chicken.
To make it, heat 5 tablespoons of oil in a nonstick pan until it's shimmering or until an instant-read thermometer reads 350Β°F. Add the ginger and cook for 15 seconds. Then, add the scallions and cook for another 15 seconds. Remove from the heat and stir in salt and toasted sesame oil. Transfer to a small bowl.
πΆοΈ Fish-Fragrant Sauce
This fish-fragrant sauce is one of the most popular flavors in Sichuan cooking. It's spicy, sour, and slightly sweet. I think it tastes way better than the chili sauce that Hainanese chicken is normally served with.
You'll need oil, Sambal Oelek (chili paste), ginger, garlic, scallions, Chinese black vinegar, soy sauce, chicken bouillon powder, sugar, and toasted sesame oil.
To make it, heat oil in a nonstick pan over medium-low heat and add Sambal Oelek. Saute for 3 minutes until the oil is bright red, then turn off the heat. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well, and transfer to a small bowl.
π§βπ³ Serving
Remove the bag of chicken from the water bath and submerge it in a tub of cold water for at least 15 minutes. This will relax the chicken's proteins, so less moisture is lost when we butcher it.
Then, butcher the chicken however you like.
You may notice that the meat and bone are pink in some parts, and that is totally fine. As long as the chicken is cooked to the appropriate temperature and for the correct amount of time, it's safe to eat.
The pink color usually comes from myoglobin, which normally turns brown during cooking, but with sous vide's lower cooking temperature, it doesn't always do that.
π Recipe
Sous Vide Hainanese Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken and Rice
- 1 whole chicken (about 3 pounds)
- 2 cups uncooked rice
- 2 ΒΌ cups chicken stock (or water)
Ginger-scallion Sauce
- 5 tablespoons neutral oil (like canola, soy, corn, or vegetable)
- 50 g ginger (about one 5-inch knob, minced)
- 75 g scallion (about 6 scallions, green and white parts separated, thinly sliced)
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- Β½ tablespoon coarse kosher salt
Fish-fragrant Sauce
- 4 tablespoons neutral oil
- 4 tablespoons sambal oelek
- 2 tablespoons garlic (minced)
- 1 tablespoon ginger (minced)
- 1 scallion (green and white parts separated, thinly sliced)
- 2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon chinkiang vinegar
- ΒΌ teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
- 2 tablespoons boiling water
Instructions
Sous Vide Chicken
- Preheat the water bath to 150Β°F (66Β°C).
- Lay the chicken on a cutting board with its stomach down. Use kitchen shears to remove the backbone and make a small slit on the underside of the breastplate. Flip the chicken and press down firmly to flatten it.
- Trim away excess fat and skin around the chicken and set aside.
- Seal the chicken in a vacuum-sealable or large ziplock bag and cook in the water bath for 3-4 hours.
- Meanwhile, place the trimmed fat and skin in a small pot with Β½ cup of water. Boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the water evaporates and fat is rendered. You should have about 3 tablespoons of fat.
- While the chicken is cooking, prepare the chicken rice and sauces.
Chicken Rice
- Rinse rice under cold water until it runs clear. Allow it to drain in a strainer over a bowl for about 5 minutes.
- Heat chicken fat in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add rice and saute for 3-5 minutes until slightly opaque. Stir in chicken stock.
- If you have a rice cooker, add everything and use the white rice setting. If you don't have a rice cooker, continue cooking in the pan. Reduce the heat to low and simmer covered for 10-15 minutes. Add extra stock or water as necessary.
Ginger-scallion Sauce
- Heat oil in a wok over high heat until slightly smoking. Add the ginger and cook for 15 seconds. Then, add the scallions and cook for another 15 seconds. Remove from the heat and stir in salt and toasted sesame oil. Transfer to a small bowl.
Fish-fragrant sauce
- Heat oil in a wok over medium-low heat. Add Sambal Oelek and saute for 3 minutes until the oil is bright red, then turn off the heat. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well, and transfer to a small bowl.
Serving
- Remove the bag and submerge it in a tub of cold water for 15 minutes to cool down.
- Place the chicken on a cutting board. First, cut the wings and legs from the body. Then, cut each wing into the flat, drummette, and wingette. Separate the legs into the thigh and drumstick. Cut the drumstick into two pieces and cut the thighs into three parts. Slice the chicken breasts into two-inch pieces.
- Serve immediately with rice and sauces on the side.
Max
Im new to sous vide will this work with chicken breasts?
Grump
Hi Max, yes it can work with chicken breasts! Since breasts are much thinner, they'll only need about one hour to cook. Make sure to seal them in a single layer. You can also try going down to 145F, but extend the cooking time to two hours.
Max
We ended up doing the whole chicken tasted amazing with the sauces! Thank u for the recipe!
Nicole
I use these sauces with tofu for a veggie alternative (I swap chicken bullion for mushroom powder to make it vegan) and theyβre soooo good!