hainanese chicken rice fix

do you still remember whistlestop resto in morato? it already closed shop but back in the day, thats where we but our favorite hainanese chicken rice. we used to order it for lunch, and for around 100 pesos -- ayus na!
sure you can still buy hainanese chicken rice from other restos but for me, nothing beats the whistlestop version.
anyway, a few years back -- craving for a hainanese chicken rice fix -- my friends and i found a recipe on the net. i tried it once and it worked! i don't know if this is the way they do it in singapore but hey, i think mine's not bad at all.

you'll need:
1 whole chicken
3 whole white onions
1 whole ginger root
1 head of lettuce
2 medium sized cucumbers
about 3 cups of uncooked rice
garlic
vegetable oil
sesame oil
salt
kikoman soy sauce
sugar
sili

here's what you do:
put the chicken in a stock pot. add water til it completely submerges the chicken. peel and halve two of your onions and add to the stock pot. crush most of your ginger root (set aside some for the sauce) and add to stock pot. add a fair amount of salt. put your stock pot on stove, bring to a boil. then lower heat and let simmer for about 30-45 minutes. leave your chicken be, wag na galawin ng galawin so as not to tear the chicken skin.

when the chicken is done, put it in a bowl full of water and ice -- this stops the cooking process and will prevent the chicken from drying out.

DON'T THROW AWAY YOUR CHICKEN STOCK. we'll use it for the rice later.

when the chicken cools -- take it out of the water and put it on a cooling rack (actually kahit ano na pwede mo pagpatungan) and let it cool some more. then rub a liberal amount of sesame oil on the chicken (wag kalimutan lagyan ang inner cavity ng chicken).

while you let then chicken cool, wash your rice thoroughly. then let the rice dry in a strainer (it helps if you put it in front of an electric fan para mas mabilis matuyo). when the rice is dry, heat some vegetable oil in a large pan and sautee your minced garlic and diced onions. add the dried rice and sautee it some more. when you feel that the rice is already toasted (note: TOASTED not SUNOG), gradually add chicken stock until it covers the rice completely, put it on low heat and cover. keep an eye on your rice though -- add more chicken stock kung di pa inin yung kanin. we want well cooked rice - not malata na rice.

while your rice is cooking, chop chicken into small pieces -- bahala ka na kung gano kalaki. rub more sesame oil on the chicken. shred lettuce and put on a platter as a bed for your chicken. peel cucumbers and cut into round pieces, or shred them if you like that better. put chicken on the lettuce bed and garnish with the cucumber slices.

for the sauce -- grate the rest of your ginger and mix with kikoman soy sauce in a bowl. mix more sesame oil and add some sili for heat.

serve while rice is hot! enjoy!!