SUPER EASY ALL IN ONE RICE COOKER MEAL

I was down with flu, took medication and was feeling a little drowsy. My hubby and mother in law were both not at home, so I still had to prepare lunch for my boys. What was the best way to cook? Let the rice cooker be chef of the day! 

After sending my number two to get chicken breast meat from the supermarket across the road, I embarked on the mission to give them a tasty (I hoped as my taste bud was on vacation) meal. 

I guess the meal must be pretty good because the cooked rice filled to almost the brim of rice cooker, but when I headed for lunch afterwards, the rice level was down by more than half. Apparently my three boys each had at least two servings!

picture from Google

SUPER EASY ALL IN ONE RICE COOKER MEAL

Ingredients

1 pc chicken breast meat

3 pcs Chinese sausages

1/2 cup dried mushrooms, soaked, diced

1/2 cup minced pork

6-8 cloves garlic

1 onion, diced

4 cups uncooked rice

1 cup Swanson Chicken Broth

2.5 cups water

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cabbage

Method

1. Slice chicken breast meat thinly. Season with light soy sauce and pepper. Set aside.
2. Season minced pork with some light soy sauce, pepper, salt and cooking wine. Set aside.
3. Soak Chinese sausage in water, peel and slice thinly.
4. Clean cabbage, rip into smaller bits. Set aside.
5. Wash rice. Pour everything into rice cooker, except for cabbage. Stir to mix well. Cook as usual.
6. When the rice is cooked, immediately pour in ripped cabbages. Stir to mix well. Cover rice cooker and at WARM mode, let cabbage cook for about 10 min.
7. Serve while warm.

EASY CHICKEN RICE - RICE COOKER STYLE

Got inspired by a FB posting on cooking chicken rice in rice cooker. For the first try I followed her recipe, and have since made some adjustments to make the dish taste better and neater. It's so much easier than in the past where I had to poach chicken that took at least one hour, used the not-much-flavoured stock in the rice, etc. THIS is much quicker and I can take my time to slowly do the side dishes! 

Tip: Place the crushed ginger and pandan leaves in the middle of rice cooker, and raise the bird with a steamer rack. In this case, you will avoid getting wet rice in the centre and rice-coated chicken.

My family also loves this simple side dish - salted succulent shallots. It's very easy. In an oil bath, just gently fry a bowlful of roughly sliced, peeled shallots until they become ttranslucent. Place in a heat-proof bowl (leaving most oil behind) and add salt (lots) to taste. Salt compliments well with sweet shallots.

EASY CHICKEN RICE - RICE COOKER STYLE

Ingredients

1 fresh kampong chicken, about 1.2kg

4 cups uncooked rice

1 bundle pandan leaves

1 bulb garlic

Ginger, approx palm-sized

2 cups water

1.5 cups Swanson chicken stock

1.5 pc chicken stock cube

40g salted butter, cut into 3 slices

Salt to taste

Marinade

2 tbsp low sodium salt

1 tbsp Shaoxing wine

1 tbsp light soya sauce

1 tsp ground white pepper

Some crushed ginger

Method

1. Clean chicken and marinade it. Remember to rub the cavity as well. Place ginger in cavity. Set aside for 30 min.
2. Lightly crush ginger and garlic, leaving the peels on.
3. Wash rice, stir in ginger, garlic, pandan leaves, butter, chicken stock, stock cube and water. Give a taste and adjust to your liking. Try to place most ginger and pandan leaves in the middle of rice cooker.
   
4. Place a small steamer rack in middle. Cut chicken open at the breast. Place chicken on rack with breast facing downward.
   
   
   
   
5. Cook rice as usual.
6. Once rice cooker beeps, remove chicken. Stir rice to mix well. 
7. Place chicken back onto rack into rice cooker and allow keep-warm mode to continue cook the chicken, about 20 min.
8. Rub cooked bird with some sesame oil and salt if desired. Serve!
   

CHILLI SAUCE

Ingredients

10-12 red chilli padi, remove stalks

2-3 red chillies, remove stalks

2 cloves garlic, remove peel

1.5 tbsp white vinegar

1.5 tbsp low sodium salt

1.5 tsp sugar

3 tbsp oil (from frying onion)

Just blitz everything in a chopper or small blender. Adjust taste accordingly.

EASY TOMATO RICE

The other day I saw a video on making tomato rice in an easy way using rice cooker. Today a friend shared the same video to me. Is that a hint? Hmmm.....I'll take it!

EASY TOMATO RICE

Ingredients

2 cups uncooked rice

2 cups water, less 6 tablespoons of water

2 tbsp olive oil or butter

1 large red tomato

1/4 tsp chicken stock powder (optional)

5 slices of ham or bacon, diced (optional)

some black pepper and salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash rice and place the amount of water required. Take out 6 tbsp of water as tomato releases liquid.

2. Stir in oil, salt, pepper, ham and chicken stock powder (if using).

3. Core tomato at the stem and bottom part. Place tomato in the centre.

4. Cook rice as normal.

looks like a large egg without the ham!

 5. When cooked, stir the rice and break up the soft tomato. Combine well.

6. Serve while still warm.

Note:

I will add cabbage the next time because I am using this as topping for our okonomiyaki later on. However, that means to further reduce water when cooking rice.

Other ingredients that I will include as a serving on its own are minced garlic, diced onions, dried herbs.