One-pot meal in a rice cooker
We recently started using our rice cooker to cook an entire one-pot dinner, instead of just plain rice — and we are hooked. This recipe falls into several categories that we love for weeknight cooking: quick prep, brief setup, start-it-and-forgetabout-it and one-pot. There’s no stovetop cooking; just plug the rice cooker in, add the ingredients and it’s done. Cleanup is easy, too.
Miso is one of our favorite flavor enhancers for a weeknight meal. It’s a fermented soybean paste that imparts a salty-sweetumami flavor to dishes with just a couple of tablespoons. These days, it’s readily available at regular grocery stores, as more and more people are discovering its versatility and deliciousness.
The chicken in this dish has to be cut a little smaller than you might ordinarily do, so it cooks in the time it takes the rice to cook. We usually have the butcher at the grocery store help us with the cutting, in order to minimize weeknight prep time and reduce cleanup time.
You can serve this dish with some quickly stir-fried vegetables or steamed Asian greens. But on particularly busy days, we just add some baby spinach or baby bok choy leaves to the rice cooker during the last few minutes of cooking.
Rice Cooker Miso Chicken and Mushrooms
Serves 2adults and 2kids
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons white miso 2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil 1tablespoon sambal oelek (or your favorite chile paste)
1 teaspoon honey or sugar
A few dashes Worcestershire sauce ¾ pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms
2 cups jasmine rice
3½ cups water
Salt and pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, combine the miso, soy sauce, sesame oil, sambal oelek, honey and Worcestershire sauce until well-mixed.
Add the cubed chicken to the miso
mixture and stir well to coat. Add the sliced mushrooms and mix well again. Rinse the rice in water, until the water runs clear, then drain well. Add the rice to the rice cooker. Top the rice with the chicken-mushroom-miso mixture, then add the water. Start your rice cooker on the same setting you usually use to cook plain rice.
When done, season with a pinch of salt and pepper and serve.