Actually that’s the chicken before baking – it just got golden brown.
A post from Carolyn. Do you watch the show, Family Dinner with Andrew Zimmern? It’s so interesting to go along with him – it’s a reality food program – as Zimmern visits a home and the family prepares a big family feast. Zimmern usually makes one thing – something from his own repertoire that he hopes will complement the meal. Lots of the programs are about food from various parts of the world, from families who have been in the U.S. for a long time. Various family members contribute their willing hands and you get to enjoy the repartee of the family.
Recently I watched a program of a family with roots in Canton, China. They have a blog, too, The Woks of Life. Isn’t that the most clever name? And they’ve published a cookbook, that’s just come out (with the same title as their blog).
In the program, this dish intrigued me. When they said this was one of their family favorites, that got me more interested. Chicken thighs first. You generally can’t buy thighs that are boned, but still have skin. I found some with bone and with skin, so needed to remove the bone myself. It’s not hard, just a little bit tedious. Once done, the thighs are marinated for a bit, then stuffed with a rice mixture that included onion, mushrooms, shallots and five spice powder.
T
heir family recipe calls for Chinese sausage. I didn’t make a special trip to an Asian market to buy that, but the recipe indicated bacon could be substituted.
What’s unique about this is the use of sticky (sweet) rice. Many, many years ago I made a dessert for a Chinese-themed dinner, something like “jeweled” rice, and I had to buy 5 pounds of sweet rice because it was all I could find. After 10 years I finally threw away the rest of it as I didn’t know what to do with it. If you search on amazon you can find a smaller size – I bought a small plastic jar of it that holds about 3 cups.
Sweet rice isn’t sweet. I don’t know why they call it sweet because the only difference is it cooks up sticky. It’s also called glutinous rice, but that has nothing whatsoever to do with gluten, but about the fact that it’s glue-like. VERY sticky. Don’t be turned off by the name – it’s just rice that cooks up differently. I suppose it’s in this recipe because you want the rice combo to stick together in a kind of oval ball and you mold the boneless chicken thigh around it. Most sticky rice comes from Thailand or Japan. If you don’t want to buy sweet rice, use regular, but know it won’t look quite the same but it’ll taste just as fine!
I also didn’t have shiitake mushrooms on hand – but I had regular ones. I’m sure the shiitake would be better. They were finely minced. The rice is flavored with onion, scallions, soy sauce, dry sherry (if you have Shaoxing wine use it – I didn’t), five spice powder, the mushrooms and a tiny splash of both dark and regular soy sauce. If you don’t have dark soy sauce, just use more of what you have. Years ago I bought a bottle of mushroom soy sauce, and it’s super-dark, so I use that when I need it. I use a low-sodium soy sauce when recipes call for the “regular” type.
What’s GOOD: everything about this was fabulous. I’d definitely make it again. Loved all the flavors that enhanced the rice. The meat was tender and juicy, and the Chinese flavors were quite subtle – nothing was overpowering. I see why it’s a favorite of the family. I think one chicken thigh is sufficient per serving.
What’s NOT: only the mound of dishes I had to clean afterwards. Engage a friend to help in the kitchen when you make this as it’s more labor intensive than a lot of dishes.
printer-friendly PDF and MasterCook file (click link to open recipe)
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Chinese Chicken with Sticky Rice
Recipe By: adapted slightly from The Woks of Life blog
Servings: 4
5 shiitake mushrooms — dried
4 chicken thighs — deboned, skin on
MARINADE:
1 medium garlic clove — minced
1 medium shallot — finely chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine — or dry sherry
1 teaspoon five spice powder
1 teaspoon sesame oil
RICE:
2/3 medium onion — finely chopped
1 1/3 cups sweet rice — also called sticky rice, raw
1 1/3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small lean Chinese sausage — (lap cheung) diced, or substitute bacon
1 scallion — finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/6 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
TOPPING:
1 1/3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Salt and white pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon five spice powder — sprinkled on top of chicken
NOTE: the chicken skin is important, so don’t use skinless. Chinese sausages vary in size. I think for this dish, a small one will suffice or 1 thick sliced piece of smoked bacon.
1. MUSHROOMS & CHICKEN: soak mushrooms (if you didn’t soak them overnight already, this can be expedited into a 1-2 hour process if you soak in hot water) and debone the chicken thighs.
2. Chop the onions, garlic, shallot, and scallion. Cut the sausage into small discs and slice the mushrooms (after soaking and draining) lengthwise into thin strips.
3. MARINADE: Combine the shallot, garlic, wine (or sherry), five spice powder, and sesame oil into a stainless steel or glass bowl. Add the chicken to the mixture and coat it in the marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator to marinate for 1 to 2 hours.
4. RICE: The package said soak rice in cold water for 15 minutes, drain, then each cup of rice is cooked in about 7/8 cup of water in a saucepan, covered, for about 10-15 minutes. Do not overcook and don’t allow rice to stick to bottom (so, stir frequently). Set aside.
5. STUFFING: Heat vegetable oil in a wok using medium heat, and cook the onion until translucent. Add the Chinese sausage and cook for another minute. Then add the mushrooms, scallion, salt and white pepper. Cook another minute and add in the cooked sticky rice, salt to taste, then add the soy sauce, and dark soy sauce. Mix thoroughly (this will take awhile as the rice doesn’t like to come apart and mix very easily) and then allow the rice mixture to cool.
6. BAKE: Preheat oven to 375°F. Divide the rice into equal ovals for each thigh, and wrap meat around each portion, tucking all sides under. Lay them in a baking dish. Add chicken broth (pour it evenly in between the crevices of the chicken) and reserve the rest if needed during baking.
7. Combine salt, white pepper with five spice powder, and sprinkle a dash of the mixture over the skin of each chicken portion. Bake for about 35 minutes, and add additional broth if the bottom of the pan looks dry. Watch it closely, as you don’t want to overcook the chicken. Use an instant read thermometer and move to next step when it reaches 165°F.
8. Once the meat is cooked through, broil it on low for 2-3 minutes until the skin is golden brown. Don’t walk away as it broils! Watch it like a hawk to prevent burning. Serve immediately.
Per Serving (this isn’t quite accurate – it’s low – because not all the ingredients are listed online): 579 Calories; 38g Fat (60.1% calories from fat); 36g Protein; 21g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 189mg Cholesterol; 840mg Sodium; 2g Total Sugars; trace Vitamin D; 31mg Calcium; 2mg Iron; 622mg Potassium; 389mg Phosphorus.
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