ROASTED CHICKEN WITH STICKY RICE
The only place I’ve ever seen this type of roasted chicken with sticky rice is at our house. Sticky rice can be stuffed inside the chicken in various Chinese recipes, but this one takes less time and effort.
The rice absorbs the chicken fluids, resulting in a dish with a tender chicken and an ooey, gooey texture.
For this dish, you’ll need to soak the dried mushrooms overnight and soak the sticky rice for at least an hour before steaming it.
If you’re cooking this for supper, you can complete these steps the night before or early in the morning so that everything is soaked and ready to go when you’re ready to cook.
Put the mushrooms in a bowl of water to soak (you may use chilly water instead of hot if you’re soaking overnight) and cover the sticky rice with 3 inches of water at the very least.
Let both soak for at least one night.
To get started, here’s the recipe.
INGREDIENTS:
- 8-10 dried, soaked, and reconstituted shiitake mushrooms
- 6 skin-on chicken thighs
- 2-3 cups of chicken stock
- 2 cups of uncooked sweet rice
- 1 finely chopped medium onion
- 1-2 lean Chinese sausages
- 1 minced clove of garlic
- 1 finely chopped large shallot
- 1 finely chopped scallion
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons of soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of Shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon of five spice powder
- 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
- 3/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Begin by soaking the mushrooms and removing the bones from the chicken thighs. The onion, garlic, shallot, and scallion should be chopped into small pieces. Small sausage discs and strips of drained mushrooms are all needed for this dish.
- A stainless steel or glass bowl should be used to mix together the shallot and garlic, 1 1/2 tablespoons of the soy sauce and wine, five spice powder, and sesame oil to make the sauce. Place the chicken in the marinade and toss to coat. For 1 to 2 hours, marinate covered in plastic wrap in the refrigerator.
- The sticky rice is ready.
- Using medium-high heat, sauté the onion until it is transparent. For a final minute, add the Chinese sausage to the pan and continue cooking. Shiitake mushrooms should be added at this point, along with salt and white pepper. Toss in the cooked sticky rice, the remaining 3/4 teaspoons of salt (or salt to taste), and the last one teaspoon of soy sauce and one teaspoon of dark soy sauce, and heat for another minute. Allow the rice mixture to cool before serving.
- Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees. Wrap a chicken thigh around each portion of rice, tucking the ends under as you go. Bake them in a dish. Be sure you’ve got 2 mugs of chicken stock handy. Fill in all of the nooks and crannies of the chicken evenly, reserving any extra for baking.
- Mix 14 tsp of five-spice powder with 12 tsp of salt and sprinkle it on the skin of each piece of chicken. Bake for 35 minutes, and if the bottom of the pan appears dry, add more broth. The chicken should not be overcooked; therefore, pay great attention to the cooking process.
- The skin should be golden brown when the meat is cooked. Don’t leave while it’s still hot! Keep a close eye on it to avoid overheating. Prepare the food and serve it right away.