Smoky Wok

On those lazy days or simply for the sake of convenience, I think it is perfectly alright to take some short-cuts in the kitchen!  Today's feature is the ever popular claypot chicken rice, well sans the claypot.  The rice cooker is a very underutilised appliance in my kitchen and I'm vowing to use it more apart from the its' usual function for steaming rice.  I have always been a lover of claypot chicken rice and this version does not compromise on taste, although if you are a lover of the burnt layer of rice at the bottom of this dish - rice cookers unfortunately will not be able to deliver in that regard.  Nevertheless, this is a great recipe to use for convenience for sure.



When it comes to claypot chicken rice, salted fish is always a must for us.  The pungently aromatic salted fish totally brings the dish to another level and you've just got to try it to believe it.  Apart from salted fish, I highly recommend to serve the rice with bird's eye chili peppers in soy sauce for dipping.



This is part of my Yuen Chun Recipes, an ongoing project on this blog.


Serves 2


Ingredients:

2 chicken legs, sliced to bite sized pieces
8 shiitake mushrooms, sliced in half
6 slices of fresh ginger (young or old)
4 stalks green onions, sliced (save some green parts for garnish)
1 piece salted fish (Mui Heong)
2 cups rice

Marinade for chicken:
3 tablespoons oyster sauce (I used Yuen Chun's)
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
Dash of shaoxing wine (optional) - I didn't use it this time and the dish still turned out great
2 tablespoons fresh ginger juice

For cooking rice:
2 tablespoons cooking oil
Dash of sesame oil
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
Enough water as usual for cooking in your rice cooker

Method:

Marinade the chicken for at least an hour if you can in the fridge.

Next, fry the salted fish until golden.  You can either crumble the salted fish or serve it whole to be eaten at the table.

Now, cook the rice with the above ingredients.  While the rice is cooking, heat up your wok until almost smoking.  Add 3 tablespoons cooking oil and swirl to coat.  Turn heat to medium, add in ginger and green onions.  Fry till aromatic.  Add in mushrooms and chicken pieces marinated earlier.  Give the chicken a few turns.  Allow to cook untli chicken is half-cooked. 

In the last 10 minutes of your rice cooking, add in the chicken mixture from above.  Once rice is cooked, do not turn off rice cooker for another 20-30 minutes.  This is to make sure the chicken gets completely cooked.  The rice is ready to serve.  Serve with bird's eye chili peppers and salted fish.