Claypot Chicken Rice
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I really love claypot chicken rice (沙锅/煲仔鸡饭) and it is the main reason why I recently added a claypot to my growing list of cookware. Before I bought a claypot, I cooked claypot rice using a rice cooker, and I just have to say that the taste of this dish cooked in a claypot is just unbeatable.
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The rice cooked using a claypot has a wonderful smoky flavour and a nice crust which I just can’t achieve using a rice cooker. This is a great one-dish and balanced meal with meat, mushrooms and vegetables.
Claypot cooking is growing on me and I can’t wait to experiment with more types of claypot rice. For those into claypot cooking, do check out my article on claypot cooking care including tips on how to prep it for first time use.
Claypot Chicken Rice Recipe
The rice cooked using a claypot has a wonderful smoky flavour and a nice crust. This is a great one-dish and balanced meal with meat, mushrooms and vegetables.
Ingredients:
- 500g chicken thighs or half chicken cut to bite-sized pieces
- 1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil
- 30 grams dried salted fish soaked in hot water until softened, pat dry and diced (remove bones if any)
- 1 cup long grain white rice rinsed and drained
- 1 cup water
- 6 dried Chinese mushrooms rinsed and soaked in hot water, stalks trimmed, quartered (reserve 2 tbsp soaking water)
- 1 lup cheong (Chinese sausages/腊肠) soaked in hot water for 5 minutes before removing wax covering; sliced diagonally
- 2 tbsp sesame oil as needed
- 2 bunches baby bok choy/xiao bai cai (小白菜) ends trimmed
(A) Marinade
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tsp ginger juice (grate some ginger, gather the pulp and squeeze the juice)
Serving suggestion
- chopped spring onion or coriander
- dark soy sauce (as a condiment)
Directions:
- Marinade chicken pieces with (A) for at least 15 minutes in the fridge.
- Heat oil in the clay pot. Add salted fish bits and fry until golden brown. Turn off the stove and take out salted fish, leaving behind the oil in the claypot.
- Add washed rice to the clay pot, coating the rice grains with the oil left in the clay pot using a spatula.
- Add 1 cup water together with 2 tbsp water used to soak the mushrooms.
- Cover claypot with lid. Simmer the rice until it is almost cooked, about 10 minutes.
- Add the marinated chicken pieces without the leftover marinating sauce (otherwise, the rice may get too soggy) on top of the rice. Scatter fried salted fish bits, mushrooms and lup cheong over. Drizzle sesame oil along the walls of the clay pot so that the rice can form a nice crust later.
- Cover the claypot and simmer for another 15 minutes. The rice should be cooked by now. If you want a more distinctive crust, you can simmer slightly longer, until you start to hear a gentle popping sound. Turn off the stove. Add the baby bok choy and cover with lid, allowing the contents of the claypot to keep warm and slow cook on their own for another 10-15 minutes before serving.
- To serve, garnish with spring onions/coriander. Drizzle dark soy sauce over the rice if desired and mix up the rice before eating.