Nearly every culture boasts its own version of chicken and rice, from arroz con pollo and chicken biryani to chicken congee and good old chicken and rice casserole. For a version that offers deceptive simplicity alongside unadulterated flavors, my palate gravitates toward Hainanese chicken and rice (cơm gà hải nam). So flavorful. So deeply comforting. Such classic hawker fare. And hands down one of the best iterations I have found is at Nam An in Westminster.
I first heard about Nam An’s exceptional dish care of Winnie Yee of Smoke Queen Barbecue in Garden Grove. The noted pitmaster named Nam An (formerly Cơm Gà Nam An, before a recent rebrand) as one of her favorite places to eat in Orange County. Describing the chicken, she raved, “So far this place makes the best Hainan chicken I’ve ever tasted in the states. They start with a specific breed of chicken, slimmer yet silkier in texture with more of a bite than the typical bird.” Yee also pointed out, “The fat layer between the skin and meat is also thinner than most chickens purchased at the market. I love that they offer the chicken deboned and skinned as well.”
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During my own visit to the Westminster eatery to check out the dish, I (a far less astute and seasoned gastronome than Yee) was equally bowled over. Tin Tran, whose family opened the restaurant in 2012, brought it in from their home kitchen to a wider audience. As Tran explained, his father “always loved to cook,” and one of his favorite dishes was chicken and rice, a “comfort food for Vietnamese people” that was typically enjoyed at home. His father traveled throughout Southeast Asia to learn various preparations of the meal, which led to the current one served at Nam An.
“We poached it in a stock with onions and other aromatics like garlic, shallots, et cetera,” he said. A crucial step involves skimming the stock of its rendered fat, which is then used to cook the rice. “This infuses the rice with an aroma of chicken” and gives it “a slightly fatty texture,” he continued.
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Nam An’s Vietnamese rendition of Hainanese chicken distinguishes itself from its Chinese counterpart because, according to Tran, “the Chinese variation tends to be a little oily, with a touch of oil on the chicken.” In contrast, he said the Vietnamese version highlights the dish’s simplicity, saying, “With the Vietnamese variation, I think we value the freshness and we don’t want it having too heavy of a mouthfeel.”
This Hainanese chicken rice is typically served with three traditional dipping sauces: a chili-based sauce with sweet and sour notes, a roaringly divine ginger-scallion sauce that’s thick and punchy, and a sweet soy sauce mixed in house providing a bit of umami and sweetness.
Nam An also offers other comfort fare as phở, lemon grass chicken with crispy rice, spicy beef noodle soup, tomato soup with crab meatballs (bún riêu cua), sparkling lemonade and more.
Find it: 15562 Brookhurst St., Westminster, 714-775-7192