One Pot Meals Part 2 - One Pot All Rice Cooker Chicken Rice

Both hubby and I love a good meal of claypot chicken rice, but I have been resisting buying a claypot - no, I'm not adding another bulky cookware to my mountain of cookware accumulated over the years.

So when I discover this method of cooking chicken rice using my rice cooker, there's no turning back.  And when I realise I could make a complete meal by adding vegetables into the rice cooker too, there's definitely no turning back (times 10!) You know what I mean :)

However, I must confess there's one big caveat to this recipe - you don't get that burnt rice crust at the bottom.  Nope, no rice crust for yer here coz 1) I ain't damaging my nice rice cooker by cooking until it forms a crust; 2) no crust means less washing up; and 3) I never fancy eating burnt rice crust anyway (it's heaty).  

So there you go.  A fantastic one pot rice cooker chicken rice with all the vegetables you need to make a complete meal.  All in one pot.  Prep and cook time under 30minutes. Comes with a kick-ass ginger condiment too. 

 

One Pot All Rice Cooker Chicken Rice
Serves 3-4

Ingredients

For the chicken rice

• 6 chicken drumsticks, skin on
• 2.5 cups of rice, rinsed
• 2 sticks of Chinese sausages, sliced thinly
• 8 pieces of dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked, rinsed and slice thinly
• 1 floret of cauliflower, rinsed and cut into bite size florets
• 4 strands of long beans, washed and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 inch young ginger, peeled and smashed
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
• 4 cups of water
• 2 tbspn of dark soy sauce
• 2 tbspn of light soy sauce
• 1 tbspn of sesame oil

For the condiment

• 2 inch young ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 1 bunch of spring onion, washed and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 2-3 tbspn oil
• 1 tbspn sesame oil
• 1 tsp chicken stock powder
• Salt and pepper
• A sprinkle of sugar

Method

To make the chicken rice

1. Pour the rice grains into the rice cooker, add in the smashed ginger and garlic, followed by the chicken drumsticks, skin side down.  Add in the water and set to Cook.
2. Halfway through (when there's still a thin layer of water on the rice and the chicken is half cooked), add in the Chinese sausages, arranging it in an even layer covering the top of the rice, followed by the Chinese mushrooms.
3. At the last 5 minutes, pour in the cauliflower florets and long beans.  When the Cook button has popped up, immediately remove the rice pot from the cooker and rest on a heatproof stand / mat.  Leave it covered for another 10minutes for residual cooking.
4. Mix the dark soy sauce, light soy sauce and sesame oil together, pour onto the rice and serve hot with the ginger condiment.

Ginger condiment

1. To prepare the condiment, add the grated ginger and spring onion into a sauce bowl.  Add in the sesame oil and chicken stock powder. 
2. Gently fry the mince garlic with the oil until golden and fragrant.  Immediately pour the hot oil into the sauce bowl so that the sizzling oil will partly wilt the spring onion, removing some of that raw taste. Stir and season with additional salt, pepper and just a light sprinkle of sugar.  Serve with the hot chicken rice. Extra condiment can be kept in the fridge for up to one week.

The beauty of this recipe is that it is extremely flexible and forgiving.

1. You can add different types of vege - eg. siew bak choy / choy sum / broccoli, according to your preference.
2. Omit the smashed garlic and/ginger for the rice if you happen to run out of them
3. Sometimes I add in coriander roots to the rice in addition to the smashed ginger and garlic for additional flavour.  The coriander stalks and leaves can then be chopped up and added to the condiment for extra oomph.
4. Omit the dark soy sauce and light soy sauce for a "white" claypot chicken rice instead of the "dark" version
5. Got extra ginger condiment leftover? Pour it over a fish and steam.  Delicious ginger steam fish!

Another similar recipe I've done previously. CLICK HERE to have a look and check out what is that shocking green condiment!

A closer look at the ingredients for that yummy green condiment.   



My first ever post on rice cooker chicken rice.  Check it out HERE

Tip : Regular/normal chicken bought from the supermarket or wet market will ooze quite a bit of moisture during cooking, so you will need to reduce the amount of water, else your rice will turn out soggy.  Experiment a few times and you will work out what's the best rice+chicken+water ratio that suits your taste preference. 

Chinese sausages add an extra depth of flavour to the rice.  I prefer to slice it first and then add it halfway through the cooking as the oils will ooze out, thus coating the rice and giving it an extra silky texture, aroma and flavour.