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Hainan Chicken Coconut Soup (Yezi Jitang, 海南椰子鸡汤)
A light, nourishing Hainanese chicken soup made with fresh coconut juice and flesh instead of coconut milk, giving a gentle sweetness, coconut aroma and rich chicken flavour; the chicken is dipped in a tangy lime-chili-soy sauce. Use a large soup pot. For the best balance use one young coconut (more juice) and one mature coconut (more flesh); with only mature coconuts, top up the liquid with plain bottled coconut water. Leftover coconut flesh freezes well. The soup also works as a base for Hainan-style hot pot. Recipe by Judy Leung, The Woks of Life (thewoksoflife.com/hainan-chicken-coconut-soup/).
0 of 11 steps done — tap a step to check it off as you cook
1
Poke a hole in the soft spot at the top of 1Young Coconut and pour the juice into your soup pot. Cut it in half and scoop out the flesh.
2
Crack open 1Mature Coconut by giving it a few firm whacks with the back of a heavy cleaver. Pour the juice into the pot, then pry out the flesh.
3
Peel any brown skin off the coconut flesh with a paring knife or peeler and slice it into strips. Add all of the young coconut flesh and about half of the mature coconut flesh (roughly 125 g) to the pot. Freeze any leftover flesh for another dish.
4
Add 1650 mlWater, 10 gGinger (3 slices), 2Green Onions (whole) and 4Chinese Red Dates (Jujubes) (dried, pitted and halved lengthwise).
5
Cover and bring to a boil over high heat.
6
Add 1130 gChicken Drumsticks (about 10 drumsticks), cover and bring back to a boil.
7
Reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Keep it bubbling but not at a rolling boil, so the chicken cooks and the flavour concentrates without boiling off the liquid.
8
Meanwhile, make the Dipping Sauce.
9
When the soup is done, stir in 1 tbspGoji Berries (dried).
10
Season well with 1 pinchSalt (to taste) and, if you like, garnish with 1Green Onions (chopped, optional).
11
Serve the soup with the chicken, dipping the chicken pieces in the sauce.
Sub-recipes
Sub-recipeDipping Sauce
1
Squeeze the juice from 1/2Lime (about 1 tbsp lime juice) into a small bowl.
2
Add 2Fresh Chili (Thai chilies, finely chopped; use 1–3 to taste), 1 tspGarlic (minced, heaping) and 3 tbspSoy Sauce (light soy sauce). Stir to combine.
3
Once the soup is ready, stir in 1 tbspCilantro (chopped; "a large pinch") and 1 tbsp of the hot soup.
4
Optional: float a few thin slices from 1/4Lime in the sauce as a garnish.