People nowadays are lucky to have essential kitchen equipment in their homes, the rice cooker. Gone are the days you need to roughly measure the water and patiently wait for the rice to cook well. You measure and place water and rice in a rice cooker and watch as it cooks rice quickly, without the hassles.
Aside from rice, what can you cook in a rice cooker? If you are the type who would like to maximize the use of your favorite cooker, then here’s a tip for you. You can cook your favorite chicken dishes through steaming in the cooker. Steaming can be a unique way to cook food.
Here are the great tips on how to steam chicken in a rice cooker. It also includes answers to the most common questions about steaming food.
How to Steam Chicken in a Rice Cooker: Actual Process Plus Recipes
Steaming is the process of cooking food through high temperature or pressure heated water or steam. It has two types: low-pressure steam and high-pressure steam. Low-pressure steam cooks food indirectly or directly with steam. High-pressure steam cooks food using moisture and heat contained inside equipment or container.
Steaming meat is an excellent way of cooking and has many advantages. It maintains the tenderness and moisture of food, compared to baking or roasting meat, which can dry the food. It also retains the nutrients of the food, which can be lost through frying or roasting. You can also make gravy or soup from the leftover water that you get from steaming.
Steaming food is, therefore, a healthy alternative to cook our favorite chicken meal. What are the steps on how to steam chicken in a rice cooker? Here are the steps:
Prepare the Ingredients, Materials, and Cooking Rack
Before you start cooking, make sure that you prepare the needed ingredients and cooking materials. Ensure that you also set up a cooking rack to which you are going to place the chicken, raised above the water.
If you don’t have a metal rack, you can improvise with an aluminum foil shaped into a circle. Use a small plate above the circular foil and place your chicken above the plate.
Cook Your Favorite Chicken Meals through Steam
You can steam any chicken part in a rice cooker – wings, breast, thighs, and the whole chicken, especially if the cooker is large. There are many recipes on how you can steam chicken in a rice cooker:
Steamed Chicken
Cook a quick and delicious steamed chicken for about 20 minutes by following these easy steps:
1. Place two and a half cups of water in the rice cooker.
2. Put a rack (metal or improvised one) inside the cooker.
3. Place your favorite chicken cuts on the rack.
4. Add your preferred seasoning like salt, garlic, and pepper to the water. You can also put the seasons above the chicken.
5. Put the lid cover on top of the cooker and press cook. Cooking the chicken cuts may take longer depending on its size.
Chinese-Style Steamed Chicken and Rice
You can also cook a full, flavorful meal in the rice cooker by placing the whole chicken, rice, and seasonings inside simultaneously. For Chinese-style chicken rice, you can add shiitake mushrooms to your favorite steamed chicken rice. You can cook this meal for about 60 minutes, perfect for 3 to 4 servings.
Here are the easy steps on how to cook chicken in a rice cooker with rice:
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of Jasmine rice
- 500 grams of chicken drumsticks and chicken wings (or chicken breasts)
- Eight pieces of Shiitake mushrooms
- Ginger julienned to taste.
- Spring onion for garnish
- water
Marinade for Chicken:
- 1 ½ teaspoon of light soy sauce
- One teaspoon of dark soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon of sugar
- ½ teaspoon of cornflour
- 1 teaspoon of Shaoxing wine
- Pinch of white pepper
- Pinch of salt
Marinade for Mushrooms:
- ½ teaspoon of light soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon of sugar
- ½ teaspoon of cornflour
- ½ teaspoon of vegetable oil
Preparation:
1. Immerse shiitake mushrooms in the warm water until these are softened. If the mushrooms are large, slice them into two halves. Mix with the marinade.
2. Chop the chicken into smaller portions using a sharp and heavy knife on one go. You can also use boneless chicken breast. Marinade the chicken for 30 minutes.
3. Rinse the rice, drain, and add less water to keep the rice just right for the dish.
4. Cook rice as usual. When steam decreases, the water inside starts to dry up. Quickly add the chicken and mushrooms with the marinade and sprinkle with ginger.
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5. Cover the lid and let the rice cooker cook the meal until it is done.
Rice Cooker Recipe Chicken Rice – Asian Style
Are you looking for a very flavorful chicken recipe cooked in a rice cooker? Then this Asian style chicken rice recipe is perfect for you. It only takes 30 minutes to cook this delicious meal, suitable for two people.
Ingredients:
Chicken Rice:
- One boneless chicken thigh
- One minced clove of garlic
- One piece of ginger, minced
- 1 scallion
- One teaspoon chicken bouillon
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 10 ounces of rice (300 grams)
- 1 ½ cups of water (360ml)
Sauce:
- One tablespoon of minced scallion
- ½ teaspoon of grated garlic
- ½ teaspoon of grated ginger
- Two tablespoons of soy sauce
- One tablespoon of vinegar
- One teaspoon of sugar
- One teaspoon of miso
- Sliced red chili flakes
Garnish:
- Fresh cilantro
- Sliced tomato
- Sliced lemon
Preparation:
1. Place washed rice, water, chicken bouillon, seasonings (garlic, salt, and ginger) inside the rice cooker and mix well.
2. Place chicken thigh in the cooker skin-side down, and put the scallion above the chicken.
3. Steam for about 30 minutes or until chicken and rice are thoroughly cooked.
4. Create a flavorful sauce by mixing scallion, red chili flakes, white sugar, sesame oil, grated garlic, vinegar, miso, soy sauce, and grated ginger.
5. Remove the chicken and scallion once the rice is ready. Stir well to fluff up the rice and slice the chicken.
6. Press the cooked rice into a bowl to create a dome shape. Then place the bowl upside down on the serving plate.
Rice Cooker Barbeque Chicken
Another great meal that you can try cooking in your rice cooker is rice cooker barbeque chicken. Cooking this dish takes about 60 minutes, but it will give you the delicious barbeque chicken you desire.
Ingredients:
- One tablespoon of butter
- One finely chopped small onion
- Two minced garlic cloves
- 1 cup of water
- ½ chicken bouillon cube
- One teaspoon of American chili powder (optional)
- Two tablespoons of vinegar
- Two tablespoons of brown sugar
- Two tablespoons of mustard
- Two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
- ½ cup of ketchup
- ½ teaspoon of hot sauce (optional)
- Black pepper, to taste
- 500 grams of skinless chicken (with bones or boneless)
Preparation:
1. Put the butter, onion, and garlic in the rice cooker. Switch the rice cooker into the cook option.
2. Melt the butter and lightly soften the onion.
3. Add all of the remaining ingredients and sit.
4. Place your chosen chicken cuts and add them with the sauce.
5. Stir and mix the chicken and sauce to adequately coat it.
6. Close the lid and try cooking chicken in rice cooker initially for 40 minutes. For the last 20 minutes, stir the chicken occasionally to prevent excessive browning of sauce on the cooker’s bottom part. Use this time to switch the cooker down to a warm option to cool down and thicken the sauce a bit.
Always check if the chicken is thoroughly cooked by inserting the meat thermometer into the chicken’s thickest part. Avoid placing the thermometer into a bony and fatty part for a better result. You will see that the delicious and tender meat quickly falls away from the bone.
FAQ’s
How does steaming affect the flavor of food?
Steaming lets you avoid the use of butter, oil, and fats. It cooks food through heated water vapor, keeping the food’s natural flavor and texture. It also stops the food from drying, retaining its moisture along with its taste.
Does steaming food remove nutrients in food?
Steaming retains the nutrients in food like vitamin C and other water-soluble vitamins, which are heat-sensitive.
What can you do to efficiently cook the food by steaming?
The effective way to steaming food is to keep the lid cover of your rice cooker. It retains the steam inside the cooker so that heat effectively circulates inside while maintaining the water level at the bottom. Also, make sure to keep a space for the steam to surround the food.
Aside from chicken, what other foods can you cook by steaming?
Foods like vegetables, meat and poultry, hard-boiled eggs, souffles, pastries, custards, fish, shellfish, tamales, and steamed buns can all be cooked by steaming.
Conclusion
The rice cooker is truly a handy piece of equipment in the kitchen that every home must-have. It can cook delicious rice and other flavorful chicken dishes. It is a healthy cooking method that retains the moisture, flavor, and nutrients in the chicken meal you cook.
Learn the different ways on how to steam chicken in a rice cooker, including its benefits, by reading this article. Who knows, you may even create your signature chicken dish cooked in a rice cooker!
Eva M. Smith is the owner of this website. She is a 4 year old mother of two kids and a professional chef. Eva loves to cook for her family, but being a working mom has a lot of challenges. From squeezing in time to do the groceries to make three meals for the day. Eva knows how challenging cooking can be without a kitchen game plan.
That’s why she perfected techniques of preserving staple ingredients and several foods so that you have something pre-cooked or pre-baked to use for an array of meals. And they do not come short in flavor! And she does not want to sacrifice flavor with convenience. That’s why she is the best person to ask.