• Prepare the chicken by removing any internal fat and cutting off excess skin. This will be used to cook the rice. Salt generously.
• Using a big pot that will fit your chicken, bring a bit pot of water to boil, adding in the sliced ginger and spring onions.
• Once boiled, rinse off the salt from the chicken and add the whole chicken into the pot and lower to a simmer. Simmer the chicken for about 15 minutes, then turn the heat off and leave the chicken in the broth for 45 minutes.
• After 45 minutes, take the whole chicken out and dunk it into a bowl of ice water. This stops further cooking and sets the gelationous fat under the skin which imporoves the texture.
• Optional. With the chicken broth, you can add some carrots, onions and green vegetables like watercress, pak choi to make a soup.

Cook the rice

• Meanwhile to cook the rice, we start by rendering the chicken fat and excess chicken skin in a wok or frying pan. I like to add in a few pieces of crushed ginger and whole cloves of garlic here. Fry this until it is slightly golden.
• Add the washed rice and stir fry until the grains are translucent. About 2 minutes.
• Then add enough of the chicken broth to cover the rice, using the first knuckle measuring technique. Season with salt to taste. Cook in your rice cooker or in a pot.

Make the sauces

• Meanwhile, blend or pound the garlic and chilli to make the chilli sauce. Detailed instructions here.
• Grate the ginger and place in a small bowl with some of the chicken broth. In another bowl, pout out a generous amoutn of kicap manis or dark soy sauce. These 3 sauces are always served wiht a good chicken rice.

Cut and present the chicken

• When the chicken has cooled, you can chop it into pieces, Chinese style with a cleaver.
• I start by removing the wings and the thighs and drumsticks. Then I cut off the breasts in one big piece and slice them into a smaller bit sized pieces. I arrange the whole chicken on a big platter with some sliced cucumbers, as per pic.
• If you don't have a cleaver, you can break down the chicken into pieces in the European way, boned or deboned. The Chinese prefer to serve their chicken on the bone.
• Serve the whole chicken family style on a big platter, with bowls of the fragrant rice, a bowl of broth each and all the sauces. YOu can garnish with some sprigs of cooriander. Alternatively, you can serve individual portions on one plate with some rice, a few pieces of chicken and slices of cucumber.