Chicken Baked Rice

Ingredients: (Serving for 4)

• 1.5 cups uncooked rice
• 2 boneless chicken thigh 
• 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables 
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 big onion, diced 
• 1 packet cooking cream
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon salt (adjust according to taste)
• some black pepper
• some grated mozzarella cheese
• dried parsley

Method:

1. Wash and cook rice with rice cooker. 
2. Diced chicken thigh. Marinate with a tsp of salt and dash of pepper. Marinate for about 15mins. 
3. Heat up a pan, with 2 tbsp butter. Add diced onion and minced garlic, sauté till fragrant. Add in the marinated diced chicken. Stir fry till no longer pink. Add mixed vegetables and mix well. 
4. Add in the cream, stir well. Add in chicken stock. Bring to a gentle simmer for few minutes. Season with black pepper and salt. 
5. Add in the cooked rice. Stir and mix rice with sauce. Let rice coat with sauce and absorb the sauce. Off heat after 2 minutes. 
6. Transfer rice into a heatproof baking dish. Cover top with grated cheese. 
7. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 degC, till the cheese turns golden brown. Sprinkle with some dried parsley. Serve immediately.  

Revised recipe (dated 19 July 2019): 

Made some modifications to my previous recipe and it works wonders! 😁😁😁 

Modifications to recipe: 

• During cooking of rice in rice cooker, add about 1.5 tbsps of garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder and 1 tsp of salt. Add 1.5 tbsp of butter into rice when it’s cooked mixed well. You can choose to use water/chicken stock for the rice.  I tried using pearl rice to cook for this time and it tasted great! 
• If you have overnight rice to clear, you can fry rice with butter and add  garlic powder and salt also. 

Method: 

1. Rinsed and pat dry chicken thighs. Marinate chicken thighs, both sides with some salt and black pepper.  
2. Heat pan st medium heat. Place chicken thighs, skin-down and let it fry for about 5mins, till it’s brown and crispy. This is to render the oil from the chicken skin. Flip over to the other side and panfry for 3mins. Remove and set aside. Sliced into bite size when it cooler. 
3. Using the same pan with the chicken oil, add diced onions and garlic. Sauté till fragrant. (You can add some butter if there is little chicken oil. Add 5 pieces of Swiss mushrooms (sliced), mixed vegetables and chopped chicken. Fry for few mins. Add a packet of cooking cream, half cup of milk and chicken stock. Simmer for 5mins. Seasoned with dashes of salt and pepper (adjust taste accordingly). Sprinkle a tbsp of plain flour over sauce and mix well to thicken the sauce slightly. Off heat. 
4. Transfer rice to heat-proof baking dish. Pour cream sauce onto rice. Topped with grated mozzarella cheese over rice. I added some Parmesan cheese too. 
5. Drizzle a little olive oil before baking in preheated oven about 190 degrees for about 15-20mins or till cheese melts and and turns golden brown. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander or dry parsley. Serve hot.