Anyway, Bob bought 2 claypots from Tangs the other day. He's a traditionalist when it comes to food. Food tastes better, he says. So he bought one pot for soup and the other for rice, when the babblemouth me pointed out the pot that is suitable for claypot rice.
Why I'm a babblemouth? Because, one, we have simple no more space for more pots and pans, and two, I will be the one cooking, surely!
But since we have the claypot, might as well use it right? I think he's craving for claypot rice also. So I decided to try cooking a good meal today.
I've done the rice cooker version, and we both liked it. I don't have the confidence of cooking in a claypot since I have never cooked rice without a rice cooker. How much water or whether rice will burn, etc. Only until my MIL does it over the stove, did I know that rice can actually be cooked over stove! Yeah, I'm a modern girl living in the modern world, ya know?
I had to search the internet for recipe as I really don't know how much water vs how much rice, and I would say I found a pretty good one here!
Armed with the receipe, I walked to the kitchen and head towards the unknown. Unknown how the rice will turn out, that is. I'm skeptical when it comes to cooking a new recipe, especially when I had to cook for my in-laws as well. Lucky my FIL went back home 2 days ago. He's quite hard to please when it comes to food.
My favourite were the crispy bits at the bottom of the pot, Bob made effort to scrape them out for me. And I'm glad I finally remembered to bring home the bottle of chilli my colleague got her mom to make. It's just so perfect with the rice!
By the way, I also cooked this super easy dish. I tried a similiar dish at Crystal Jade and was so taken by the tasty dish that I tried doing one myself. Of course it's not comparable to the restaurant standard, but I'm happy enough.
I used chicken stock and added just a bit of oyster sauce for extra oomph. I used Maggi Chicken Granules by the way.
Bob's verdict of the rice? It has all the right flavours, very tasty, but the rice was a little too soggy. Silly me washed the rice way too early and the rice was soaking wet for a couple of hours before I cook, so I guessed that's why it was too soggy? Or maybe I added a little too much water?
As for my verdict, the chicken was very tasty. I guess the 2.5 hour marinating helped a lot. The rice was indeed a bit soggy, I saw the rice almost mashed together when Bob was mixing it. The lap cheong we bought from Hong Kong were so good! One other bummer was the chinese mushroom, which I unearthed from my over-crowded cabinet. God knows where they came from. The mushrooms does not have that usual frangrance, I must remember to chuck them in the bin.
By the way, I took out all the ingredients, added more dark soy sauce and a little sesame oil for extra taste before serving up. And I also added a chunk of salted fish for extra flavours. I don't have rice wine, so I substitute with just a dash of shaoxing wine when I marinate the chicken.
I'm amazed at the flavours that can be acheived with the claypot. No doubt the rice cooker version makes my life easier, nothing beats the charred smell from cooking with the claypot. What can I say, I'm a convert now.
I will surely cook this again.
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