Vietnamese Chicken Rice (Com Ga Hoi An)

Name: Vietnamese Chicken Rice (Com Ga Hoi An)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 40 min
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 3
Ingredients: 1 whole chicken ((about 2.5-3 lbs)); salt; 8 cups hot water ((plus more for parboiling)); 2-inch long piece of ginger, roughly peeled; 3/4 cup long grain rice; olive oil; 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder; 1 1/4 cup homemade chicken stock; half a medium onion; 3/4 cup iced cold water; 4 1/2 tablespoons lime juice, divided ((juice of about 2 limes)); 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, divided ((divided)); 1 1/4 teaspoons salt; 1 3/4 cups packed shredded chicken ((from the poached chicken)); 3/4 cup lightly packed Vietnamese coriander leaves; freshly cracked black pepper; soy sauce; bird's eye chili, thinly sliced ((optional)); 3 small bowls of hot chicken stock; thinly sliced scallions

Prep 20 min Cook 1 hr 40 min Serves 3 Source

Ingredients

1 whole chicken ((about 2.5-3 lbs))
salt
8 cups hot water ((plus more for parboiling))
2-inch long piece of ginger, roughly peeled
3/4 cup long grain rice
olive oil
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 1/4 cup homemade chicken stock
half a medium onion
3/4 cup iced cold water
4 1/2 tablespoons lime juice, divided ((juice of about 2 limes))
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, divided ((divided))
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 cups packed shredded chicken ((from the poached chicken))
3/4 cup lightly packed Vietnamese coriander leaves
freshly cracked black pepper
soy sauce
bird's eye chili, thinly sliced ((optional))
3 small bowls of hot chicken stock
thinly sliced scallions

Steps

1
In a stock pot, add plenty of boiling water then add the whole chicken and a pinch of salt. Bring back to a boil and parboil for a minute. Discard the liquid and clean the pot.
2
Add the chicken back to the pot, and add ginger, a teaspoon of salt and 8-9 cups of hot water (enough to barely cover the chicken). Bring to a boil and then lower to a gentle simmer.
3
Cook for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through. Remove the chicken from the stock and you can place it in a bowl of cold water for a couple of minutes to stop the cooking process.
4
Separate the meat from the bones. Add the bones back to the stock and continue to simmer for about 40 minutes (or longer for a stronger stock if you have time). Chill the chicken meat in the refrigerator.
5
Once the chicken stock is ready, place a pan over medium heat and add some olive oil. Add rice and sauté for about 30 seconds then add turmeric powder. Stir and sauté until rice is evenly coated with turmeric powder.
6
Transfer rice to your rice cooker pot. Add enough chicken stock you just made as indicated by the rice cooker. I need about 1 1/4 cups of chicken stock with my rice cooker. Choose the regular program you usually use to cook the rice.
7
While the rice is cooking, slice half of an onion as thinly as you can. We need about half a cup of onion slices. Soak them in 3/4 cup of iced cold water plus 2 tablespoons of lime juice and 1 1/4 teaspoons of sugar. Soak for at least 15 minutes to remove the rawness.
8
In a small bowl, mix together 2 1/2 tablespoons of lime juice, 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of sugar (the sugar is completely optional) to make the lime juice dressing. Tweak the ratio of ingredients to your liking.
9
Take the chicken meat out of the refrigerator and shred. We need about 1 3/4 cups of shredded chicken. Mix the shredded chicken with onion slices and lime juice dressing. Set aside to let the flavors meld.
10
When the rice is ready, add Vietnamese coriander leaves and plenty of freshly cracked black pepper to the shredded chicken and onion. Gently toss to combine.
11
Fluff the rice with a spatula then add rice to serving plates. Top rice with the chicken salad. Serve immediately with soy sauce on the side and a small bowl of hot chicken stock as soup for each person. You can add bird's eye chili to the soy sauce and some scallions to the soup. Taste and flavor the soup with some salt or a dash of fish sauce.