Hainan Chicken Rice and Com Ga. A study in multi-cultural adaptations.

Chicken rice.  Com Ga. Hainan Chicken.  A dish that can be found across Asia (as I've been told, I haven't been to Asia in a while.)  

From Singapore to Vietnam to China, each country puts it's own little twist on it. In Vietnam, we call it Com Ga. In China, they call it chicken riceahhhhhhhh. Whatever you call it and however you serve it, it's a delicious, and super easy to make. Perfect for a week day meal.

Com Ga is served with nuoc cham (a fish sauce/sugar/vinegar mixture) and Hainan chicken is served with a ginger scallion sauce.

So let's do this thing!

Com Ga/Hainan Chicken
Serves 4

1 4lb Fryer chicken
1 stalk of green onion
1 3 inch knob of ginger
3 cups of uncooked rice
2 quarts of water
1 tsp of salt

Brine:
2 quarts of water
6% by weight kosher salt (about 1/2 cup per quart of water)

Ginger-Scallion sauce
2 green onions - diced
1 3 inch knob of ginger
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1 tsp salt

Nuoc Cham (prepared fish sauce)
Ask your mom to make you a giant jug of it

First things first, we're going to brine the chicken over night in a 6% salt solution.  This is where a kitchen scale comes in handy.  Measure out 2 quarts of water, or enough to cover the chicken, and dissolve kosher salt until you reach a 6% salt solution by weight.  If you don't have a scale you can use 1/2 cup of salt per quart of water to get you close.

Cover the chicken in the brine and place in refrigerator over night.  The purpose of the brine is to ensure the chicken is extra moist once you're done cooking it.  The salt dissolves some of the myosin proteins in the chicken, allowing them to absorb more moisture.  Don't worry, it won't be overly salty.

The next day, wash off the brine thoroughly.  Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the onion and ginger. Place the chicken into a pot with a tsp of salt and cover with water. Bring it to a boil over high heat.  Once at a rolling boil, turn off the heat and cover the pot with a lid and let it stand for 15-20 minutes or until the breast temp reads 145F with a meat thermometer.  Remove from the pot and let chicken cool.

Instead of water, we'll be using the stock from cooking the chicken to cook the rice. Make sure you get the fat floating at the surface for some extra flavor.  I threw in the ginger and onion from the cooking the chicken for a little extra oomph.

To make the ginger-scallion sauce, heat up the oil and diced onions until it starts bubbling slightly.  In the mean time, grate the ginger.  Once the oil starts bubbling, remove from the heat and add the salt and ginger.

Serve the chicken with the rice and your choice of sauces.

Com Ga/Hainan Chicken Rice
Serves 4

1 4lb Fryer chicken
1 stalk of green onion
1 3 inch knob of ginger
3 cups of uncooked rice
2 quarts of water

Brine:
2 quarts of water
6% by weight kosher salt (about 1/2 cup per quart of water)

Ginger-Scallion sauce
2 green onions - diced
1 3 inch knob of ginger
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1 tsp salt

Nuoc Cham (prepared fish sauce)
Ask your mom to make you a giant jug of it

1. Brine chicken in 6% salt solution overnight
2. Wash off brine, stuff the chicken cavity with green onion and ginger. Place in pot and cover with water.
3. Bring to a boil then turn off heat and cover with lid. Let the residual heat cook the chicken for 15-20 minutes or until internal temp reads 145F
4. Cook rice using stock from cooking the chicken
5. Heat oil and diced onions until bubbles form.  Grate ginger and add to the oil along with the salt.
6. Serve rice and chicken with choice of sauce