In a pot, add enough water (roughly 2.5 litres – 3 litres) to cook chicken. This can vary depending on the type and size of pot you are using. In the same pot, add 1 teaspoon salt, a bit of rock sugar, 3 lower halves of spring onions/scallions, 5 thick slices of ginger bruised and 1 teaspoon white peppercorn. Bring the pot to a boil on high heat.

While waiting for the water to boil, prepare the chicken. First remove excess chicken fat by peeling it off using both hands (at the cavity) and set aside. Wash hands. Next use some coarse sea salt to rub and massage the chicken. This step is crucial to get a tight, silky smooth skin. Rinse off the salt under cold running tap. By now, the water should be boiling.

Immerse the chicken into the boiling water and blanch 1-2 minutes. Remove and quickly put it under cold running tap to cool down the skin and inside of chicken.

Next place the chicken back into the pot and turn the heat down to low. Cook the chicken for 45 minutes.

While waiting for the chicken to cook, we can now prepare the 2 types of sauce.

First, make the ginger and spring onion sauce. Roughly chop some ginger and the upper halves of the 3 spring onions/scallions and place in a mortar. Add a bit of coarse sea salt. Pound the ingredients until it is coarsely smooth. Heat up some cooking oil on a low-medium heat. Once the oil is hot (not boiling), pour the oil into the mortar and give the ginger spring onion sauce a good stir. Remove and place in a bowl to cool down. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can use an electric spice blender.

Next, make the garlic ginger chilli sauce. Roughly chop some ginger, garlic and chillies and add to the mortar. Add some coarse sea salt. Pound the ingredients until smooth. Add 1 bowl of chicken broth from the pot. Give it a good stir. Then squeeze and add some lime juice and a bit of sugar to taste and mix through. Place in a serving bowl and set aside.

Make the rice. On a saucepan, some cooking oil or butter and the chicken fat that was removed from the chicken cavity earlier. Heat up the sauce pan on low-medium heat to infuse the chicken fat with the butter. Then, add few slices of ginger and some smashed garlic cloves. Give them a quick stir. Next add the rice (pre-washed) and chicken broth from the pot. Cover the saucepan with a lid and cook on low heat for 15-20 minutes. The time varies depending on how much rice you are cooking. You will need to adjust accordingly.

By now the chicken should have been nicely poached. Roughly 45 minutes on low heat and an additional 15 minutes to rest in the broth (after turning off the heat). Remove the chicken and let it cool and dry before brushing with a mixture of 2 tablespoons light soy and 1 tablespoon sesame oil..

Cut the chicken and serve the way you like, with the rice and sauce.