Claypot Chicken Rice

Claypot Chicken Rice

Teh: Claypot chicken rice has always been one of the things i want to try my hands on. I decided to invest in a small claypot thinking i can use it to experiment with various recipes in small portions. After my first attempt on the claypot chicken rice, i realised "This small claypot is not going to be enough for the things/portions i want to cook!!" That's because the rice turned out to be wonderful. I wanted to make more portions at a go so that i can share with everyone. I'm going to get a bigger claypot during my next trip to Giant.

You may think, how do you choose a good claypot? Well, i was thinking about the same question too. When i got to Giant (the only place among the rest of the supermarkets i went to that sells claypots), i looked at the price of the claypot. The small one i bought cost slightly below $10. I figured it must be of good quality since i didn't think it was going to cost so much. lol. An auntie told me not to buy claypots that have shiny exterior. Those will crack if you try to cook things in it. They are only good for keeping food warm. Her conclusion was to buy those that are polished but slightly rough, not the type we see at the hawker centers. But smoother ones. She said those hawker centers types are hard to wash. Don't forget to soak the claypot before you use it for the first time. Submerge it completely in water. I did that for 2 hours. After soaking, i boiled water in the claypot for 10 minutes.

Without further ado, here is the claypot chicken rice recipe:

Ingredients: (Portion for 2 pax)
1 cup of rice
Water (sorry i forgot to measure the exact amount of water needed. But it is slightly less than what you usually need).
1 Boneless Chicken Thighs (you can use any chicken parts you fancy)
Salted fish (as many as you want!)
Lap Cheong (as many as you want!)

Marinate for the chicken:
1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
some pepper
a dash of sesame oil
1/2 tbsp Hua Tiao Chiew
3/4 tbsp of corn flour (to be added last and mixed evenly with the chicken)

Method:
1. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Marinate it with the seasoning for at least 30 minutes. Ideally you should let it marinate longer. But you are short of time, the trick is to dry the chicken before you add the marinate. It'll help the chicken absorb the flavour faster.

2. Cut up the lap cheong and salted fish to your desired size.

3. Wash the rice. Add water. I added some mushroom stock to the rice before i had it on hand. But it is ok even if you plain water.

4. Use a medium flame to boil the water and rice. When the water is boiled, turn down to small flame immediately and cover the claypot.

5. While waiting for the water to boil, heat up a pan and briefly stir fry the chicken. It doesn't have to be thoroughly cooked but just enough for the marinate to coat the chicken. We don't want the marinate to make our rice soggy! You can also pan fry the salted fish slightly to help enhance its flavour.

6. When the water is almost all absorbed by the rice (it took 10 minutes for me but please check constantly), add the chicken, salted fish and lap cheong to the top of the rice. Cover the claypot and continue to cook for 10 minutes until the rice is cooked (if you are unsure of the timing, use a spoon and eat some rice!). Turn off the flame and let the flavour infuse into the rice for a further 10 minutes.

7. Mix the rice with dark soy sauce and oil (if you wish) before eating. Bon appetite!

Claypot Chicken Rice with Salted Veg Duck Soup