Rice Cooker Claypot Rice (with Prima Taste chicken rice mix!)

Our favourite claypot rice stall [宝发熟食] is just right across the street from where we live. We go there for an occasional treat but the waiting time is 20 minutes and above. Jason loves it but me, to wait 20 minutes for carbs? You can bet by the end of the 20 minutes you get a combo deal- grumpy + hungry all rolled into one. LOL.

So I was at the supermarket the other day and saw this Hainanese Chicken Rice mix from Prima Taste which says “GOOD FOR CLAYPOT RICE” at the side. I had to try it out!

I love Prima Taste mixes.. I have been using their Laksa Fried Rice mix religiously to cook (duh) fried rice, bee tai mak, dry laksa, and one Chinese New Year, I even baked a Laksa shepard’s pie with it. It was not a surprise that the taste of the claypot rice turned out great.. but my rice cooker did not do this dish justice because the rice is not as fluffy and firm as I would like.. by the way since I’m at it, when shopping for a rice cooker, do not buy “Mistral” brand. The electrical cord became loose after just 2-3 months of usage and sometimes when we’re not alert, the light goes off and our rice doesn’t get cooked properly.

I used tender chicken fillet this time but would have used boneless chicken thigh for that bit of fat. I also added Chinese sausages and dried shitake mushrooms. To remove the wax from the Chinese sausages, soak the whole sausage in hot water for 5-10 minutes, then using your knife, make a small cut through the wax covering, then peel off with your hands. The wax just falls off easily and you don’t have to give your teeth a workout. Try it!

Makes 3 servings

What I used:

1 packet Prima Taste Fragrant Hainanese Chicken Rice mix
1 and a half cup rice + water to cook rice
4 chicken fillets, chopped into bite size pieces and marinated with 1 tablespoon oyster sauce and 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
2 Chinese sausages, wax removed and sliced diagonally
4 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked til soft then quartered or halved, depending on size

1. Wash rice and fill rice cooker with enough water for 1 and a half cups of rice. Use the inner markings of your rice cooker to gauge. (–> this was NEW to me cos I never paid any attention to the inner markings and never knew what they were for! Ah-mm has always taught me to gauge the water level with my fingers!)
2. Empty the Prima Taste rice mix into the rice cooker, yes, with the uncooked rice and water.
3. Cook til the rice is about 3/4 cooked and there’s just a bit of water left on top of the rice– my small rice cooker took about 10 minutes– yours could take longer. Place the chicken fillets, sausages and mushrooms on top and cover to cook til the rice is done.
4. Continue to “Keep Warm” for another 15-20 minutes to be sure that the chicken is cooked. It is something like steaming chicken in the rice cooker.
5. Open up the lid and drizzle some dark soy sauce over, mix well, and tuck in!

How much I spent: 

$1.70 for Prima Taste rice mix
$2.50 for Chinese sausages
$1.50 for chicken fillets
Everything else from my pantry!

Total cost per serving: $1.90

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Honestly, I thought I scr*wed this dish up because the rice was pretty soggy at first (my rice cooker turned off by itself mid-way!). But after 20 minutes of “Keep Warm” time, much of the water evaporated and the rice turned out acceptable. As you can see in the picture below, the rice grains are not that firm but great for those who like to “吃软饭” and I have two of “those” at home! My family loved this dish.. the rice was flavourful because of the easy rice mix and yes, I would cook with it again!