Recipe - Chicken And Rice In A Sandy Clay Plot

Stephen Ceideburg
2 cup Longgrain rice
2 One fourth cup Cold water
6 Chinese dried black
mushrooms
One fourth cup Dried lily buds
6 Chicken thighs, preferably
with the skin
2 Lean Chinese sausages (about
2 ounces each)
1 tablespoon Peanut or corn oil
4 Garlic cloves, peeled
3 Quartersized slices fresh
ginger, peeled
1 tablespoon Fermented bean curd (fu yu),
mashed (optional)
4 Green onions, including the
green tops, cut into 2inch
lengths
1 teaspoon Corn starch
One half cup Chicken stock
2 tablespoon Rice wine or dry sherry
One fourth teaspoon White pepper
CHICKEN MARINADE:
1 One half tablespoon So sauce
1 One half tablespoon Rice wine or dry sherry
One half teaspoon Sugar
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1 One half teaspoon Corn starch

For entertaining, this recipe makes a fun presentation when prepared in
four individual twocup clay pots. To season a new sandy clay pot and lid,
submerge both in cold water overnight.

Rinse with cold water until water runs clear. Drain thoroughly. Put rice
and water into a 2 One half to 3quart sandy clay pot; set aside.

In 2 separate bowls, cover the mushrooms and lily buds with water until
soft and pliable, about 30 minutes. Drain. Cut off and discard mushroom
stems; cut caps in half. Cut off and discard hard ends of each lily bud;
tie each bud into a knot. Set aside.

Using a heavy cleaver, chop the chicken crosswise into 3 pieces cleanly
through the skin, meat and bone leaving no jagged chopped bones.

Toss chicken with marinade; set aside for 20 minutes. Cut sausages into
thin diagonal slices.

In a preheated wok add oil, garlic and ginger. Stirfry over medium heat
until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Increase heat to high; add chicken and
sausages and stir occasionally until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add
mashed fermented bean curd to center of wok; toss with chicken mixture. Add
mushrooms, lily buds and green onions and stirfry 30 seconds.

Mix cornstarch with chicken stock, wine and pepper to a smooth mixture.
Pour into the wok and stir until sauce thickens, about 10 seconds. Remove
from heat.

Place clay pot over mediumhigh heat. Boil rice and stir with chopsticks to
loosen grains. Continue boiling until surface water is absorbed (about 5
minutes). Pour chicken mixture over rice, cover, reduce heat to low, and
cook for 20 minutes. Turn off heat, do not remove lid; let sit for 10
minutes longer.

PER SERVING (4 servings): 850 calories, 39 g protein, 84 g carbohydrate, 36
g fat (10 g saturated), 141 mg cholesterol, 777 3 fiber.

Marion Cunningham writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, 10/2/91.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini