Clay Pot Chicken Rice with Lap Cheong and Shiitake Mushrooms

Put the dried Shiitake mushrooms in a heatproof container to rehydrate them. I like to use my 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup. Cover the mushrooms in boiling water or very hot water and soak until they are soft and tender, approximately 30-60 minutes or until very soft. In a pinch, if I forget to soak them, I'll cover them and microwave for a few minutes, and then let them cool down before using.

Squeeze the water out of the soaked mushrooms. Trim the tough stems, and cut them in half. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, toss the chicken cubes with half of the garlic (~1.5 cloves), cornstarch, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, salt, black pepper, sugar, sesame oil and 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine.

Stir until all ingredients are thoroughly combined, making sure the chicken pieces are covered with the cornstarch slurry.

Set aside for at least 30 minutes so the chicken will be tender.

Put 1 tbsp oil in skillet set over medium heat, let the oil heat up until starting to shimmer.

Put half of the ginger (1 tbsp), white part of the scallions, and shallot in the pan and stir quickly for 15 seconds.

Add water chestnuts and softened shiitake mushrooms and stir-fry for 2 minutes.

Set vegetables aside.

Using same skillet without washing, turn stove onto medium heat and add lap cheong. Stir for 30 seconds.

Add rest of garlic (~1.5 cloves) and stir for another 30 seconds.

Add 1 tbsp remaining oil to skillet, and then add marinated chicken.

Stir-fry chicken for 1 minute, until the outside of all pieces have just turned white. (The inside will still be raw. However, the meat will finish cooking in the rice cooker.) This is similar to my Velvet Chicken recipe, which you can find in the notes below. It allows the cornstarch coating to set on the chicken to keep it juicy.

Wash rice in a colander, or strainer set over a bowl, so that you don't lose extra rice. Drain rice when water is almost clear.

Put rice in Cuckoo Rice Cooker with remaining ginger slivers (1 tbsp). Stir to incorporate.

Layer chicken and lap cheong mixture on top of rice.

Layer veggies mix on top of chicken.

Cook on non-pressure white rice setting (approximately 33 minutes).

When rice is done, stir together all components, dish up, garnish with scallion greens, and enjoy!