Hed Chef: Shortcut claypot chicken rice

Entertain your guests this festive season without breaking your back with this one-potwonder.

OK, it takes more than a pot. You do need a pan and a rice cooker. And if you are particular about aesthetics, a claypot would be ideal to use as the serving dish.

The beauty of this dish is that home cooks are likely to have most, if not all, of the ingredients in the kitchen.

Today's recipe caters for 10. ifyou intend to adjust the amount, as a general guide, use one rice cup of rice to 0.9 rice cup of water.

You can add the Chinese sausages into the rice cooker to cook, but frying them keeps the colour vibrant and brings out their aroma.

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INGREDIENTS

(Serves 10)

• 1 chicken (1.2kg), cut into bite-sized pieces
• 7 tbsp shallot oil
• 50g ginger, sliced
• 100g whole garlic cloves, skin on
• 100g dried prawn, soaked
• 100g dried baby scallop, soaked
• 5 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
• 5 rice cups of long-grained rice, rinsed
• ½ tsp salt
• Dash of ground white pepper
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp light sauce
• 810ml of chicken stock
• 300g napa cabbage, sliced into 2cm-thick strips
• 240g of Chinese sausages, skin removed and sliced diagonally, 0.5cm thick per piece
• 2 tbsp dark soya sauce
• 5g spring onion
• Chinese celery

Chicken marinade

• 4 tbsp light soya sauce
• 1 flat tbsp cornflour
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp Chinese wine
• Dash of ground white pepper

METHOD

1. Place chicken in bowl, add marinade. Cover with clingwrap and marinate in fridge for at least 30 minutes.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of shallot oil.

3. Add half of sliced ginger and fry over medium heat for 45 seconds.

4. Add whole garlic cloves and fry for a minute until fragrant.

5. Add dried prawn and dried baby scallop. Fry for 3 minutes.

6. Add dried shiitake and fry for a minute.

7. Add rice and fry for a minute.

8. Season with salt and pepper.

9. Add sesame oil and light sauce.

10. Fry for another 2 minutes.

11. Turn heat off and transfer the mixture to the rice cooker. Add chicken stock.

12. Turn on the rice cooker.

13. In a pan or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of shallot oil over medium heat.

14. Add remaining ginger slices and fry for 45 seconds.

15. Add chicken and fry for 4 minutes.

16. Transfer chicken into rice cooker.

17. Place napa cabbage on top.

18. Cover and cook until rice and chicken are ready.

19. In a pan, heat 2 tablespoons of shallot oil over medium heat. Fry Chinese sausage for 11/2 minutes. Turn off heat and put Chinese sausage aside.

20. Transfer cooked rice and chicken into a claypot. Place Chinese sausage on top.

21. Heat claypot over low heat until hot.

22. Drizzle dark soya sauce on top of the rice mixture. Garnish with spring onion and Chinese celery. Serve immediately.

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