A Thai Chicken for Sauce Lovers

When our Managing Editor Kenzi and I visited Portland, Oregon for the Feast Food Festival, we fell hard. For the city, of course. But also for an unassuming chicken dish (and its broth and dipping sauce) served out of a truck called Nong's Khao Man Gai.

The Chicken of My People (Khao Man Gai)

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The chicken had been boiled in water spiced with ginger, then served over a bed of rice and alongside a container of chicken broth to sip separately or pour over the rice. As a result of the boiling, the chicken was incredibly tender and moist—and flavorful. But just in case over-the-top-unbelievably-flavorful is your thing, they served it alongside a ginger-spiked sticky soy sauce.

I wrote unpublished love poems for the chicken, took eight-hundred photos of it (see below), and paid $30 to check my bag so that I could bring a bottle of the magical sauce that came with it back to New York City.

Fast-forward several months, when I discovered a recipe for the same chicken on Food52.

And then imagine my excitement when—one chicken boiled in ginger, garlic, and black peppercorns later—I discovered that the recipe was delicious! From vvvanessa, it's actually a hybrid of the Chinese and Thai versions of the dish, called Hainanese chicken rice and Khao Man Gai, respectively.

She describes it best:

My mom is Chinese and my dad is Thai, so is it any wonder that simple chicken and rice is one of my favorite dishes? For this recipe, I've streamlined the process considerably and made a simple mishmash of the two styles: Instead of cooking the rice in the chicken broth made by the cooking the chicken, I just [cook the rice in water, then] spoon a little of the savory liquid over the top. The condiment I use is heavy on the green onions. [...] This recipe also employs the use of residual heat to cook the chicken, which warms the cockles of my energy-efficiency-loving heart.

To review: Energy-efficient chicken, delicious broth-soaked rice, and a condiment of champions on the side. I know what I'll be making tonight (and always).

The Chicken of My People (Khao Man Gai)

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Ingredients

1	(3½-pound) chicken
4	slices ginger, peeled or unpeeled, plus 2 tablespoons finely chopped (or grated on a Microplane) ginger
3	garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed
1/2	teaspoon black peppercorns
	Coarse-grain sea salt
3	tablespoons finely chopped scallions (both green and white parts)
2	tablespoons vegetable oil
1	Thai chile, seeded and finely chopped (optional)
4	cups cooked rice (white or brown, cooked in water or chicken stock)
	Optional garnishes: salted and roasted skin-on peanuts, cucumber slices, cilantro leaves, tomato slices, fried shallots or garlic, sliced scallions, chile sauce like Sriracha, and/or soy sauce

1	(3½-pound) chicken
4	slices ginger, peeled or unpeeled, plus 2 tablespoons finely chopped (or grated on a Microplane) ginger
3	garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed
1/2	teaspoon black peppercorns
	Coarse-grain sea salt

3	tablespoons finely chopped scallions (both green and white parts)
2	tablespoons vegetable oil
1	Thai chile, seeded and finely chopped (optional)
4	cups cooked rice (white or brown, cooked in water or chicken stock)
	Optional garnishes: salted and roasted skin-on peanuts, cucumber slices, cilantro leaves, tomato slices, fried shallots or garlic, sliced scallions, chile sauce like Sriracha, and/or soy sauce

Have you ever eaten this chicken? Are you as excited as we are about energy-efficient chicken? Tell us in the comments below!