← Nouns Cooking · Malaysian & Singaporean

Ingredients

• 600 g boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
• 1 tsp Dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp Toasted sesame oil
• 2 cm piece Ginger, grated
• 1 tsp Cornflour (cornstarch)
• ¼ tsp White pepper
• 300 g Jasmine rice, rinsed until the water runs clear
• 420 ml chicken stock or water
• 6 dried shiitake, soaked until soft, stems removed, halved
• 2 Chinese sausage (lap cheong), sliced on the diagonal
• 20 g Salted fish (ikan masin / kiam hu), diced (optional)
• 2 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Toasted sesame oil
• 2 Spring onion, chopped

Method

1. Mix the chicken with all the marinade ingredients and the soaked mushrooms, and leave for 30 min (or overnight in the fridge). Stir the finishing sauce together.
2. Put the rice and stock in a claypot or heavy lidded pot with 1 tbsp of the oil. Bring to the boil over medium heat, then cook uncovered for 6–8 min, until most of the liquid has gone and small craters appear on the surface.
3. Spread the chicken, mushrooms, sausage and salted fish (if using) over the rice. Cover tightly, turn the heat to low and cook for 15 min without lifting the lid.
4. Drizzle the remaining oil around the inside edge of the pot, cover again and cook for 5 min over medium-low heat, until you hear a gentle crackle and smell toasting rice. Check the chicken is cooked through to 75°C (165°F).
5. Off the heat, pour over the finishing sauce, scatter with spring onion and mix at the table, scraping up the crispy crust from the bottom.

Tips

• A clay pot gives the best crust; soak a new one in water for a few hours before its first use and never put it on high heat from cold.
• Salted fish is the old-school flavour but is very strong, so start with a little.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Marion's Kitchen Nomadette MyKitchen101en