Khao Man Gai, Thai Chicken Rice

📝 Ingredients

• 4 chicken legs (about 250 g each)
• 320 g jasmine rice
• 40 g fresh ginger (20 g for the broth, 20 g for the rice and sauce)
• 5 garlic cloves (3 for the broth, 1 for the rice, 1 for the sauce)
• 3 spring onions
• 1 chicken stock cube + 1.5 l cold water
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 cucumber (about 300 g)
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• Salt

🍴 Utensils

• Large stockpot
• Saucepan with lid
• Fine sieve
• Fine grater
• Cutting board and knife
• Measuring jug

📖 Steps

1. Remove the skin from the thighs, pulling it with kitchen paper for a good grip. Cut 20 g of ginger into thin slices, crush 3 garlic cloves with the flat of a knife and separate the white and green parts of the spring onions.
2. Put the thighs in a large pot with the cold water, the stock cube, the sliced ginger, the crushed garlic, the spring onion whites and 1 tsp salt. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat, 10 to 15 min, skimming off the grey scum that rises.
3. Turn the heat right down: the water should barely quiver, without boiling. Poach for 35 min, until the meat comes away easily from the bone and the juices run clear when pierced near the bone. A rolling boil would make the chicken dry.
4. Meanwhile, rinse the rice in the fine sieve under cold water, rubbing it between your fingers, 3 or 4 times, until the water runs almost clear. Leave to drain, then set aside in a bowl. Grate the rest of the ginger and chop the last 2 garlic cloves.
5. Lift the thighs out of the pot and cover them with foil. Strain the broth through the fine sieve and measure out 480 ml for the rice; keep the rest warm for the soup served alongside.
6. Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat with half the grated ginger and 1 chopped garlic clove for 30 seconds. Add the rice and stir for 2 min, until the grains turn pearly and shiny.
7. Pour in the 480 ml hot broth, bring to the boil, then cover and cook for 12 min over a very low heat. Leave to rest for 10 min off the heat, without ever lifting the lid, so the rice finishes swelling.
8. While the rice is cooking, mix the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, the rest of the grated ginger, the last chopped garlic clove and 2 tbsp of the broth until the sugar has dissolved. Slice the cucumber into rounds and finely chop the spring onion greens.
9. Bone the thighs and slice the meat into 1 cm strips. Pack the rice into a bowl and turn it out onto the plate, with the chicken on top, the cucumber alongside, the sauce on the side and a bowl of broth sprinkled with spring onion greens.