Khao Man Gai (Thai Hainanese Chicken & Rice)

Name: Khao Man Gai (Thai Hainanese Chicken & Rice)
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Thai
Ingredients: 2 lb boneless chicken thighs; 32 oz chicken broth; 2-inch piece ginger: half sliced, half finely grated; 8 garlic cloves: 4 smashed, 4 minced; 4 green onions; 2 cups jasmine rice, rinsed; 2 tbsp white miso (stands in for fermented soybean paste); 3 tbsp soy sauce; 1 jalapeño or 2 Thai chilies, minced; 1 cucumber, sliced; ½ bunch cilantro; 2 tbsp oil; 1 tbsp sugar; 2 tbsp rice vinegar; salt

DinnerThai60 minServes 4755 kcal56 g protein

Photo: Takeaway · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Gently poached chicken over garlicky rice cooked in the poaching broth, served with cool cucumber, a cup of hot broth and a punchy ginger-chili-soy sauce. Simple, soothing and completely addictive.

Make it part of your week. MealTote sizes this recipe for everyone you cook for, adds it to a weekly meal plan and puts the ingredients on one grocery list split across your stores. Open it in MealTote

Ingredients

2 lb boneless chicken thighs
32 oz chicken broth
2-inch piece ginger: half sliced, half finely grated
8 garlic cloves: 4 smashed, 4 minced
4 green onions
2 cups jasmine rice, rinsed
2 tbsp white miso (stands in for fermented soybean paste)
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 jalapeño or 2 Thai chilies, minced
1 cucumber, sliced
½ bunch cilantro

From your pantry: 2 tbsp oil, 1 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp rice vinegar, salt.

Instructions

In a pot, bring the broth, 2 cups water, the sliced ginger, smashed garlic, green onions and 1 tsp salt to a simmer. Add the chicken, keep it at a bare simmer (no bubbles breaking) and poach until 170°F inside, 15 to 18 minutes. Move the chicken to a bowl of cold water for 2 minutes so it stays juicy, then set it aside.
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium. Fry the minced garlic until pale gold, 1 minute, then add the rinsed rice and stir until it smells toasty, 2 minutes. Add 3 cups of the strained poaching broth and ½ tsp salt, bring to a boil, cover and cook on low for 15 minutes. Rest 10 minutes off the heat.
For the sauce, stir the miso, soy sauce, grated ginger, chili, sugar, vinegar and 1 tbsp hot broth until smooth.
Reheat the remaining broth and season it with salt. Slice the chicken.
Mound the rice on plates and top with sliced chicken, cucumber and cilantro. Serve each plate with a small bowl of hot broth and the sauce for spooning over.

Tip: Keep the poaching water barely trembling. Boiling squeezes the moisture out of the chicken and makes it stringy.