Easy one-pot Hainanese chicken rice with soybean-paste dipping sauce

Trim skin and fat from the sides of bone-in skin-on chicken thighs and breast and save it for the rice. Cut a very large breast in half.

Rub the chicken with salt on the skin and underside (grated ginger optional) and let it sit while prepping.

Render the chicken fat trimmings in a wok with a little oil over low heat until golden and crispy, aiming for about two tablespoons of fat (supplement with vegetable oil or stock fat if short). Remove the crispy bits.

Fry garlic and ginger in the chicken fat until fragrant.

Add jasmine rice rinsed until the water runs clear, season with salt and sauté until hot throughout; turn up the heat to toast it a little.

Transfer to a rice cooker or a pot.

Add chicken stock (a little less than usual for the rice) and stir. Place the chicken on top of the rice.

Heat on high until the stock starts moving, then cover, turn to low and cook 25 minutes.

For the dipping sauce, pound garlic, ginger and Thai chilies to a rough paste; add sugar, a couple of tablespoons of doenjang thinned with water, dark soy sauce, soy sauce and a touch of vinegar.

Fluff the rice. Slice the chicken and plate it on the rice, ideally on a darker plate.

Stir cilantro into the sauce and serve with a few pieces of cucumber and, optionally, a bowl of the chicken broth seasoned with salt and pepper or soy sauce and cilantro.