We placed our orders, and my daughter ordered a chicken baked rice. When her dish came, I took a small bite. To describe it objectively, it was plain white rice topped with tasteless, dry chicken fillets and smothered with a layer of diluted, starchy gravy.
Oh, yum. Bleah. Needless to say, we won't be going back there. Period.
The very next day, I whipped up my own version using some overnight rice and plenty of common sense. And it totally rawked, if I may say so myself ;) The kids licked the platter clean, literally!
As for that restaurant, tsk tsk. I think they should just stick to serving ice-cream.
Recipe
- 6 to 7 tbsp chicken stock
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 tsp corn flour, diluted with a little water
- 2 rice bowls cooked rice (best if it's overnight rice kept in the fridge)
- Carrots, sliced thinly
- Honey baked ham, shredded (or any other ingredient you like)
- A knob of butter
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- Grated cheddar and mozzarella
- Grated parmesan
1. In a saucepan, bring chicken stock and heavy cream to a boil. Add corn starch liquid. Stir till the mixture thickens. Set aside.
2. In a skillet or wok, melt some butter. Fry the garlic till fragrant. Add carrots and fry over a low flame till semi-cooked. Add ham. Add rice. Keep frying and tossing. Break up all lumps.
3. Pour butter fried rice into a casserole dish. Pour chicken stock mixture over. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
4. Top with grated cheddar and mozzarella. Add a generous layer!
5. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 8 to 10mins, at 200 degrees celsius or until the cheese browns to a golden crust. This will happen very quickly, so keep your eyes on the dish. Serve piping hot.
Now, how difficult is it to get that right?!
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This looks so delicious:) Creamy cheesy..yet clean and fresh:)
ReplyDeletePerfect photos Ju..Cristal clear!!!
What a co-incident, I made almost the same cheesy baked rice too. The cheese looks so beautiful and I am sure it is delicious!
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely gorgeous! I will be trying this! :)
ReplyDeleteGosh i must try this! It sounds delicious..my boys/ men, whatever, will love it :)
ReplyDeleteI really dont know how some shops can sell tasteless food and still be standing there...quite a puzzle :(
but if it motivates people like you Ju to go home n make it WAY better then I suppose thats a good reason enuf for them to exist!
Hopefully I made some sense up there :) lol
If I didn't read, the picture looks like the menu from some of the cafe's or bistro's. Nice tempting picture. Wah so creative of you !
ReplyDeletelol. Let me guess...Swensens? ^_^ I must say that yours looks much better! ^_^
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely sell your recipe to that certain 'chain-restaurant-which-specialises-in-ice-cream-but-also-has-a-hot-food-menu'. Haha!! Looks deliciously good!!
ReplyDeleteYou have nicely replicated this rice and I would say this is perfect, you have talent in cooking, keep up the good works..
ReplyDeleteSei bravissima non mi resta che rinnovare i complimenti e augurarti buona settimana.
ReplyDeleteCiao Daniela.
This looks great. What a neat twist on things. I'm sure the kids loved it. Can't see any kid saying no to that.
ReplyDeleteheehee you must have kicked some restaurant butt!
ReplyDeletewould definitely visit your cafe if you opened one :)
Now, you've just hit on standard American comfort food -- the casserole. Yours is probably way better though!
ReplyDeleteI bet this taste 100% better than the one you had at the ice-cream place. Looks really yummy.
ReplyDeleteEasy indeed! Love the cheesy look.
ReplyDeleteJ'adore cette couleur orangée, une manière de manger du riz qui me plait énormèment
ReplyDeleteHow do you get those beautiful colors in your photos???
ReplyDeletei love this recipe, and will be trying it very soon
This looks like a wonderful upgrade from the typical macaroni and cheese. I don't know what amounts to a rice bowl... maybe a cup? Is Jasmine ok? I can't wait to try this!
ReplyDeleteOh mameeeeeee I want some!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous pics Little T!
ReplyDeleteJust beautiful!
OMG!! This looks so good. I already bookmarked the recipe.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog. You are so sweet.
Looks perfect! I love this dish but my hubs is not a big fan =(
ReplyDeleteOoh looks yummy! I'm sure if would've definitely beat the restaurants one!
ReplyDeleteAwesome!! I love the same type of cheesy bake rice with sweet and sour pork chop and lots of gravy inside.
ReplyDeleteBaked rice?? My husband is gonna LOVE this. Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteMac and cheese with rice....OH MY. Can't wait to try this!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I made it and was pleased with the ease but most of all the taste! Used what cheese I had on hand and still delish. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis looks really tasty, but I have a quick question... can you give me some idea how much a rice bowl it? Your recipe asks for two of them, and I'm not sure how much I should be expecting to use... 2 cups, 3 cups, more???
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Hi Anon, hmmm ... 2 rice bowls of COOKED rice will translate to about 1 to 1 1/3 cups UNCOOKED rice grains (depending on the variety you are using). Cook your rice first, let it cool, or use leftover refrigerated overnight rice. I recommend using Thai Jasmine fragrant rice. Do not use glutinous rice for this dish. If you are unsure about the quantity, I would advise that you err on the side of caution and cook a little MORE. Surplus is better than deficit, I say :) HTH!
ReplyDeleteHi! I recently used your recipe & it turned out fab! thanx heaps. my hubby loves it! i posted ur recipe on my blog but credited it back to u. once again, thanx for all ur inspiring lovely home-cooked recipes.
ReplyDeleteHi wow looks delicious yet simple recipe! For health reasons, can you suggest any substitute for the heavy cream or can i just leave it out?
ReplyDeleteLuvtoCook: Oh come on, it's just 2 tbsps of heavy cream! ;) But yes, you can prob omit it since the amount is quite little. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great recipe. I'm gonna try it this weekend. Do you know where I could buy cheap mozzarella cheese? The ones at our local supermarts are pretty pricey.
ReplyDeleteSwensen's USED to have REALLY good baked rice when I was a child. That was back in the late 90s.
ReplyDeleteBut the quality has dropped a whole lot. =(
hi, erm i was wondering if i could put chicken in?
ReplyDeletelittlecook: Of course you can. You can use any ingredient that you want to eat!
ReplyDeletewill try this!
ReplyDeleteLooks simple...yet delicious..nice picture.
TQVN
Please bear with me, I'm no cook but really want to try your dish! Love baked rice. What's heavy cream? Also do we really need to add 3 different kinds of cheese? These cheese comes in packets right? THanks!!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Ruth, you can use any cream - heavy cream, whipping cream, pouring cream - as long as it's dairy and above 35% fat. Adding different cheeses gives the dish dimension. Do you live in Singapore? If yes, you can get these shredded cheeses in packets at Cold Storage. HTH!
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