At Christmas two years ago Andy got an odd non-stick casserole/pot as a gift. The lid has a plastic knob on top with a steam vent, and the pot itself has a heavy bottom. Because of the plastic knob, it obviously wasn’t designed for the oven but for the stovetop. I didn’t have a recipe to put the pot to use immediately so I put it out of sight, and out of mind. A few months ago I came upon several YouTube videos for donabe cooking, including Happy Donabe Life, and I remembered that pot. The basic donabe design is a bowl shaped pot with a cover that has a steam vent, and is used to cook one-pot meals and soups. Though my pot is not a traditional donabe like the ones in the videos, a beautiful donabe or Japanese clay pot can cost a couple hundred dollars on Amazon. Cheaper ones can be bought at Daiso, the Japanese dollar store in Bangkok, for Baht 300 (US$10.00). Once I realized I didn’t have to buy a donabe pot after all, I decided to try this one-pot meal for chicken and rice.
Donabe Chicken Ginger Rice with Onions and Beech Mushrooms (adapted from Toiro, Naoko’s Happy Donabe Life)
Serves 4-5
Soaking Time: 30 minutes
Marinating time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Resting time: 20 minutes
8 oz/240 g chicken thighs, boneless and skinless, cut into chunks
2 tablespoons sake, rice cooking wine, or dry sherry
1 ½ tablespoons light soy sauce
½ tablespoon nam pla/fish sauce
2 rice cooker cups/360 ml short grain rice, rinsed and drained
1 ¼ cups/300 ml dashi stock, chicken stock, or water
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 oz/30g peeled ginger sliced into 1 inch/2.5 cm matchsticks
1 cup beech mushrooms, washed and trimmed
1 small onion, sliced into strips
1 scallion sliced thin diagonally
Toasted white sesame seeds, optional
Special equipment: donabe pot or a small dutch pot with a lid
Wash rice 2-3 times then drain and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine chicken, sake, soy sauce, and fish sauce. Mix well by hand. Cover tightly with plastic and let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
In the donabe, combine the drained rice, stock or water, and sesame oil. Let the rice soak 30 minutes.
Spread the ginger, onions, and mushrooms over the rice. Add the chicken in a single layer, and sprinkle the marinade on top. Cover the donabe pot and cook over medium-high heat for 13-15 minutes or 2-3 minutes after the steam starts puffing out of the lid. If a crust is desired on the bottom of the rice, let the rice cook for an extra 1-2 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let the pot rest, undisturbed, for 20 minutes. Uncover and fluff the rice. Garnish with scallion and sesame seeds, if using.
Foodie Joanie 