Claypot Chicken Rice

Well, sort of. I don't exactly have a claypot with me. But you can get a pretty decent replica by using a normal rice cooker. Don't be daunted with the length of the ingredient list. This is a pretty simple dish :)

What you need:
3 chicken drumsticks, deboned and cut into small pieces
7 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in boiling water until soft, then sliced

Rice:
3 cups rice, washed and drained
3 cups chicken stock (+ more water to fill up the rice cooker as needed)
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon sugar

Marinade:
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon ginger juice (grate a knob of ginger and squeeze)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon cornflour

Seasoning:
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon chicken stock granules
1 teaspoon sesame oil

What you do:

1. Mix the chicken, mushrooms and marinade. Marinate for about 30 minutes.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok, and stirfry marinated chicken and mushrooms until tender. Set aside.
3. Mix the "Rice" mixture ina rice cooker, and cook rice.
4. When rice is done, spread chicken pieces and any juices over the top of the rice, and mix thoroughly.
5. Leave the mixture in the rice cooker for awhile, until the bottom has a brown crusty layer. Serve.

The brown crust is the best. You can leave the step out, but "authentic" clay pots apparently also have a brown crusty layer, hehe. The great thing about it is that you can leave the whole thing in the rice cooker and just serve once you're ready. Very useful for all those late dinners.

There are some ingredients missing, since I couldn't find them (like Chinese sausage, garlic oil, salted fish, etc...) But the dish is none the worse for it. I haven't tasted a real clay pot chicken rice dish, but this version is definitely more than edible. But, if you can, sprinkle chopped spring onions and garlic oil before serving. The sausage should go with the chicken, while the salted fish should go with the rice. Oh, and just in case, the mushrooms contribute a major part to the taste of the dish, so do put them in. If you're in UK, you can probably find them in an Oriental supermarket, and if you're in Brunei, even easier. Just any old supermarket would do ;) They're a bit strong, I admit. But some people love them, though I can't stand the actual mushroom myself. The hint of their taste is more than enough for me. Put in more if you like it, less if you don't.

I've actually made this a couple of times before. My usual problem was that my rice cooker wouldn't behave and would switch off the cooking once I put in the chicken, even if its not quite done. In order to remedy this, I put in the chicken once the rice was cooked already, and just seasoned the rice seperately. This worked quite well, I thought.

Hadi thought that my first time was better though, since it was much more flavoursome, though the rice was still mushy. The second time, Justin made it, but I tihnk he was missing a lot of ingredients, or something. Personally, I prefer the version this time, though I didn't do anything different, just the time I put the chicken in. Oh well... I guess there was more sauce to cook the rice in, the first time round. But I really really like it this time. It tastes really nice, and its so easy! Defnitely something I will make more often these coming days.

Quote of the day: I like rice. Rice is great when you're hungry and want 2000 of something.