Are you ready for something super fantastic?

Zoe and I are so excited to share this family recipe with all of you. I don’t remember how or when exactly we started having this at home, but needless to say we make this for almost EVERY family gathering. It is no joke. Everyone loves it.

The recipe was originally given to my mum from a colleague. Many families have their own version of this recipe not only in Hong Kong or China, but also in Malaysian, Indonesian, Singaporean cooking. You will not often find this in restaurants, in fact, this is definitely more of a dish you find at home. This particular recipe has been adapted over years so that it is much healthier. I remember when we first started having this we would always add lap cheong (a very fatty cured chinese sausage that is traditionally used). It is very difficult to replicate or imitate the flavor of lap cheong because it just has this amazing salty, smoky, cured flavor that scents anything it is cooked with.

I remember a few years ago we went on a church camp with a bunch of friends. No, we didn’t stay at a hostel, we didn’t have bunk beds or more – it was the serious stuff! We were out in the wilderness of Hong Kong  with our ginormous camping bags that almost killed my shoulders –  filled with food, tents, sleeping bags, snacks, equipment – everything we would need for 3 days. It was an intense experience. We learnt how to purify our own water after retrieving it from the stream; we also used bamboo sticks to put together a small canopy for shade and rest. I remember being squished into a small tent with 5 others girls and sleeping on rocks for 2 nights. To make the experience even more dramatic, it was pouring for the 3 days we were there. I was muddy, dirty, wet and cold. The most exciting part was eating camp food. Its probably nothing like any camping experience I have ever heard of before. We roasted enoki mushrooms wrapped in aluminum foil with butter..we stir fried cabbage in a small pan, cooked rice in a pot over a small gas fire, made eggs with tomato, luncheon meat. It was pretty epic and what a feast! We would all be starving so all the food was always completely gone. I remember looking over to the table next to ours, and saw a girl putting lap cheong (chinese sausage) in her rice. The whole camp was filled with a delicious aroma of earthy, meaty sausage with rice. Lap cheong is honestly delicious and wonderful. But since I’ve been cutting out oil as much as I can it is hard to find alternatives.

But let me reassure you. This recipe works just fine without lap cheong. In fact I would go as far to say it tastes better!

We made this for a delicious potluck dinner Zoe and I hosted for our friends. Amongst our Singaporean, Taiwanese, American, Chinese friends – this dish was the most popular. We got a thumbs up and a lot of compliments on “how much it reminds me of home”, “wow it tastes like something my mum makes”, “what did you add in it..its so flavorful?”

If you want a dish to impress 🙂 this rice cooker shiitake mushrooms and chicken rice is the way to go! I promise it will disappear in minutes!

We made an improved version of this recipe, you can click this link to find it.

Family Recipe: Cantonese Chicken and Shiitake Mushroom Rice Cooker Rice (GF, Oil-Free)

 

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Author: Unconventional Cooks

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 15 dried Shiitake mushrooms
• 4.5 cups of rice
• 4.5 tbsp dried shrimp
• 12 small pieces of scallops
• 8 oz chicken thigh
• 8oz pork
• 3 shallots
• 4-5 slices of ginger
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• ¾ cup water
• Meat Marinade:
• 2.5 tbsp GF soy sauce
• 2 tbsp honey
• Seasoning for Rice:
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp GF soy sauce

Instructions

1. Soak the dried shrimp, scallops, dried mushrooms in separate bowl with hot water. Use more than enough to cover the shrimp, scallop, mushroom because you will be needing it for cooking the rice. Leave it aside for at least 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, marinate your chicken/pork. Set it aside for at least 30 minutes.
3. Slice up your garlic, ginger and scallions.
4. Add water to your steamer/wok. When the water is boiling turn the heat down to a simmer and steam the mushrooms and dried shrimp for 15 minutes. (If you don't have a steamer, check out this great idea to make your own steamer: BUILD YOUR OWN STEAMER)
5. Heat up a non-stick pan, sauté 2 cloves of garlic, slices of ginger and 1 shallots. Add your uncooked rice. Allow it to absorb the flavors and toast a little. (this should take no longer than 5 minutes).
6. Add your scented rice to your rice cooker. Pour over the dried shrimp, scallop and mushroom soaking water. Add water to make up for the remaining amount of water needed. (follow the markings on the rice cooker or the back of your package of rice).
7. Add scallops and shrimp. Start cooking your rice!
8. In the meantime, finely slice your shiitake mushrooms. We want them pretty small - 1 could probably be cut into 6-8 pieces.
9. Sauté remaining 2 cloves of garlic, 2 slices of ginger and 2 shallots in a heated non-stick pan. Toss in your marinated meat and mushrooms. Add ¾ cup water and cover. Allow the mixture to simmer for 5 minutes till cooked through. Set aside. (you do not want to over cook your meat!)
10. When the rice is done, mix in the mushroom-chicken-pork mixture. Add in the fish sauce and soy sauce to taste.

Notes

Meat: you can use whatever combination as long as it totals to 16 oz. The original recipe calls for half chicken and half pork, but we ran out! Feel free to substitute in turkey breast, chicken breast but make sure you don't over cook it!

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