Hainanese chicken rice with cucumber and tomato
Silky poached chicken with fragrant rice cooked in its stock, served with cucumber, tomato and a ginger–spring onion dip — satisfying but light.
- 1 hr 5 min
- Serves 3
- Poach
- Medium
Why it suits you: Grain Buds brings rising damp heat, so a balanced constitution does best with clean, even-handed meals. Poaching needs no heavy oil or fierce heat, keeping the chicken tender rather than drying, while cucumber and tomato clear heat and offset the richness of the rice.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 45 min- 1Rinse and pat the chicken dry and rub it with salt inside and out. Bring the water to the boil with the sliced ginger and spring onions, lower in the chicken, return to the boil, then turn off the heat, cover and steep for 25 minutes.
- 2Lift the chicken into cold boiled water for 5 minutes to firm the skin. Keep the poaching stock.
- 3Rinse and drain the rice. Fry half the garlic in a little oil, stir in the rice, add 2.5 cups of the stock and the pandan leaves, and cook in a rice cooker.
- 4Mix the grated ginger, chopped spring onion, remaining garlic and a pinch of salt, and pour over hot oil to make the dip. Chop the chicken and serve with the rice, cucumber and tomato.
Cautions
- The skin and chicken-fat rice are rich; if your cholesterol is high, remove the skin and use less oil in the rice.
Chef's tips
- Keep the leftover stock and simmer it with winter melon for a light soup.
The TCM view
Chicken is sweet and warm, warming the middle and boosting qi. Cucumber is sweet and cool, clearing heat and promoting urination; tomato is sweet, sour and slightly cold, generating fluids and aiding digestion. Ginger and spring onion are pungent and warm, settling the stomach and balancing the coolness of the vegetables. Nourishing without heaviness, it keeps the spleen and stomach in harmony through the humid season.
