Tasty rice (Chicken claypot rice cooked in a rice cooker)

"This is a version of a Cantonese dish that my Mum makes as a simple dinner. In Cantonese, the name translates to 'has flavour rice', and the flavour comes from the umami of shiitake mushrooms and the chicken marinade, as well as the fragrance from the lap cheong. You will need a rice cooker for this dish."

Tasty rice (Chicken claypot rice cooked in a rice cooker) Credit: Adam Liaw

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• 500 g chicken thighs, cut into 3 cm strips
• 10 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 400 g (2 cups) jasmine rice, rinsed
• 2 ½ tbsp vegetable oil
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 cm piece ginger, sliced
• 2 lap cheong, sliced on an angle
• coriander sprigs and thinly sliced spring onions, to serve

Marinade

• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy
• ½ tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp ginger juice (squeezed from grated ginger)
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 2 tsp sesame oil, optional
• 6 red dates, pitted and quartered

Marinating time: 30 minutes

Instructions

1. For the marinade, place all the ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.
2. Add the chicken, stir to coat well, then stand for 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, soak the mushrooms in a bowl of hot water for 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the water, reserving the water. Squeeze as much water as you can out of the mushrooms back into the bowl with the soaking water. Pour the water into a measuring jug and add enough cold water to make just under 500 ml (2 cups). Remove and discard the mushroom stalks. Cut the mushroom caps into 5 mm thick slices.
4. Place the rice in a rice cooker and pour in the mushroom liquid. Add 2 tsp vegetable oil and the salt. Using a chopstick, swirl the rice so that the rice, vegetable oil and salt are mixed evenly. Cover and turn on the rice cooker.
5. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium–high heat. Add the garlic and ginger and stir for about 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the mushrooms and chicken and cook until it starts to get a bit of colour. Don't cook the chicken entirely; the rice cooker will do the rest. Remove from pan and set aside.
6. When the rice cooker is at the halfway mark (you'll hear the water bubbling; mine happens at 24 minutes), add the lap cheong.
7. When the rice starts to boil and before the water dries out, open the rice cooker and put the chicken and mushroom on top of the rice.
8. When the rice has finished cooking, take it off the reheat function, and press the 'Cook' button again. This will create crispy rice at the bottom of the rice cooker. If your rice cooker doesn't have this function, let it keep reheating for another 5–10 minutes.
9. Open the lid and use a rice cooker paddle to mix the chicken, mushroom and lap cheong through the rice. Taste and adjust the seasoning with a little extra soy sauce if needed. Serve, topped with coriander sprigs and spring onion greens, making sure each person gets a bit of the crispy rice at the bottom of the rice cooker.

 

Photography by Adam Liaw.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Stream free On Demand

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Watch The Full Episode Here

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Watch The Full Episode Here

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