When it crackles and pops, you know it'll be good! Our brown rice crisps up beautifully in another local delight - claypot rice. Fuss-free to make, this dish is as comforting as it is delicious.
Ingredients:
For the rice
3 cups The Little Rice Company brown rice, cooked
15 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked
For marinade
2 bone-in chicken leg-and-thigh portions, chopped or 4 boneless chicken thighs
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
1 teaspoon ginger , minced
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
For the sauce
3 cloves garlic , crushed
4 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cups baby bok choy or kailan
Directions:
Rinse shiitake mushrooms. Place dried shiitake mushrooms in a medium sized bowl and add warm water to cover. Set aside and soak for about 20 minutes.
Combine chicken, light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, ginger, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well. Blend in cornstarch and mix well by hand until chicken is evenly coated. Marinate at room temperature.
After soaking, mix 'mushroom water' with cooked rice and heat for 10 minutes, until water has been absorbed. Set rice aside.
While simmering the rice, cook the chicken and mushrooms. Add the remaining 1 teaspoon of oil into a nonstick skillet over medium high heat until warm. Add chicken and let it cook for 1 minute without stirring. Place the chicken so that you cook the skin side first, until golden brown. Flip and cook the other side until golden brown, and the chicken is half cooked through. Turn to lowest heat. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
Turn back to medium high heat and add shiitake mushrooms. Stir and cook for 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
When the rice is ready, arrange chicken, mushrooms, and Chinese broccoli on top of the rice. Cover and continue to simmer for 20-25 minutes (the longer you simmer, the more crispy the rice on the bottom will be).
While the rice is cooking, mix the oyster sauce with the sugar and garlic in a small bowl. When the rice is done, remove from heat and uncover. Drizzle oyster sauce on top immediately, while the rice is hot, and mix everything well with a spatula. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes more. Serve piping hot!
Recipe adapted from Omnivore's Cookbook.