Singaporean Hainanese Chicken Rice Lunch Boxes with Ginger-Scallion Sauce

Place the chicken thighs in a pot with the sliced ginger, 2 whole scallions, the smashed garlic and 2 teaspoons salt. Add cold water to cover by 1 inch. Bring just to a boil, then reduce to the barest simmer, cover and cook 25 minutes.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 lb)
• 1 three-inch piece fresh ginger, half sliced and half finely grated
• 6 scallions, 2 whole and 4 finely minced
• 4 garlic cloves, 2 smashed and 2 minced
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
• 1 1/2 cups jasmine rice, rinsed until the water runs clear
• 1 tablespoon chicken fat or neutral oil, for the rice
• 1/4 cup neutral oil, for the sauce
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 1 English cucumber, sliced into rounds
• Fresh cilantro sprigs, for packing

Instructions

1. Place the chicken thighs in a pot with the sliced ginger, 2 whole scallions, the smashed garlic and 2 teaspoons salt. Add cold water to cover by 1 inch. Bring just to a boil, then reduce to the barest simmer, cover and cook 25 minutes.
2. Turn off the heat and let the chicken sit in the covered pot for 10 minutes. Lift it out to a plate and let cool. Strain and reserve the broth.
3. In a medium saucepan, warm the chicken fat or oil over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and stir 30 seconds until fragrant, then add the rinsed rice and stir 1 minute to coat every grain.
4. Add 2 1/4 cups of the reserved broth. Bring to a boil, cover, drop the heat to low and cook 15 minutes. Rest 10 minutes off the heat, then fluff with a fork.
5. While the rice cooks, make the ginger-scallion sauce: combine the grated ginger, minced scallions and a big pinch of salt in a heatproof bowl. Heat the 1/4 cup neutral oil in a small pan until shimmering and pour it over the mixture. It will sizzle. Stir in the sesame oil.
6. Remove the skin from the cooled chicken if you like, pull the meat from the bones and slice it into thick strips.
7. Divide the rice among 4 lunch containers. Top with sliced chicken, tuck in cucumber rounds and cilantro, and pack the ginger-scallion sauce and dark soy in small sealed cups so the rice stays fluffy until lunchtime.
8. Refrigerate up to 4 days. Eat cold, or reheat the rice and chicken for 90 seconds and spoon the cool sauce over the top.
9. Hainanese chicken rice arrived in Singapore with immigrants from China's Hainan island in the early twentieth century and became the unofficial national dish, served at nearly every hawker centre from breakfast onward. The genius of the dish is thrift and restraint: the chicken poaches gently in seasoned water, and that same broth cooks the rice, so nothing is wasted and every element tastes of the same source. Packed into a lunch box, it holds up beautifully because there is no crisp coating to soften and no dressing to wilt anything, just tender chicken, fragrant rice and a bright ginger sauce that wakes it all up at noon.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 560 kcal
• Protein: 34g
• Fat: 26g
• Carbohydrates: 48g
• Fiber: 2g
• Sugar: 2g
• Sodium: 920mg