Chicken And Rice - Oh So Nice

September 18, 2023 10:39 PM

Rice is one of the world's most important crops. Chicken is one of the world's most consumed meats. (In the US to the tune of 100 pounds per person per year). Naturally, there's an large variety of combinations of the two across the world, so let's try a few! Again, as with all things culinary, this is woefully incomplete, short sighted and missing a bunch of other combinations (plus some of these combinations are seen with different meats!

Some Recipes to Explore

• Arroz Caldo - Filipino chicken and rice porridge (this is a theme around the world)
• Arroz con Pollo - Puerto Rico/Caribbean chicken and rice (tried to avoid Goya after their mess a few years back, but really the classic version of this is a bunch of Goya ingredients
• Biryani - make your kitchen smell fantastic. (one of my favorite coworkers would make giant pans of this as a post project celebration
• Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole - Can't have chicken and rice without one classic casserole
• Congee - Chinese rice porridge - if you're not feeling well, congee will set you right
• Dak Juk - Korean rice porridge
• Fanny Farmers Chicken and Rice Soup - The Fanny Farmer take on chicken and rice soup
• Galinhada - Brazilian paella-ish dish of chicken, rice, sausage and fruit
• German Baptist Chicken Rice Soup - a Plain soup
• Gumbo - stewish collection rice, chicken, sausage, red or brown is your choice
• Halal Chicken, Rice and White Sauce - live your best Halal cart vibes - no word if there's a ketchup disclaimer
• Hanian Chicken and Rice - a Chinese dish filtered through the lens of Singapore to become a national dish
• Jambalya - the paella to gumbo's stew.
• Jollof Rice - one of many cross cultural dishes of West Africa, warm, spicy blend of rice, tomato, peppers with the meat of choice. (Although careful not get caught up in the Jollof Wars
• Morgh Polow - chicken, rice, barberries and a fight over who gets the tahdig
• Oyakodon - savory chicken, onion, eggs and a bowl of steamed rice
• Paella (with Chicken and Chorizo) - a classic of the rice world even if you don't have a big pan
• Riso alla Pitocca - Lidia Bastisch's poor man's rice
• Roz a djej - rice with cinnamon spiced ground beef, shredded chicken and fried almonds and cashews

posted by drewbage1847 (35 comments total)

living in Tokyo in the 90s I was surprised that the teriyaki chicken bowl wasn't really a thing.

I finally found a restaurant that offered it but they were out of business when I went back in 2002.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 10:51 PM on September 18, 2023

My default "I don't want to cook and I want something vaguely healthy" is a Flame Broiler Chicken Bowl with Vegetables, extra broccoli - right in that line of a chicken teriyaki bowl, but much better than Yoshinoya.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:59 PM on September 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

That Serious Eats halal chicken and rice recipe is a go-to in our house. Much recommended!
posted by Harald74 at 12:17 AM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

Also I love byriani, but have not been able to recreate it to my own satisfaction at home. I usually get lamb byriani from our local Indian take-out, it's so delicious!
posted by Harald74 at 12:20 AM on September 19, 2023

(It's Hainan (or Hainanese) chicken rice; not Hanian and no "and". And it's damn delicious, if you eat chicken.)
posted by Westringia F. at 2:04 AM on September 19, 2023 [9 favorites]

Chicken Soup With Rice
posted by chavenet at 3:01 AM on September 19, 2023

Anna's Saturday Chicken with rice was a classic from my 1970s-80s childhood. Chicken, condensed mushroom soup, paprika, yoghurt, rice.
posted by paduasoy at 3:13 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

And thank you for posting! Lots to try here.
posted by paduasoy at 3:14 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

One of the biggest problems with being a person who cooks for herself most of the time is that it's damn hard to do any of those super-comforting "dump everything in together and bake" casseroles where one of the ingredients is a can of condensed soup. The Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole serves 4, but also calls for an entire can of cream of chicken soup - so if I were to make it just for me, my choices would be a) get the can of soup and then scoop out a quarter of the can, and leave the rest in my fridge in the hopes I use it later until it goes bad, or b) bake the whole pan's worth, and then try to eat through it for 4 straight nights and get totally sick of it.

BUT - I've recently found some recipes for DIY cream-of-whatever soups on this web site, which can be made in much more manageable portion sizes and frozen in advance, so I can make up a batch and then divide it amongst four smaller portion sizes.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:54 AM on September 19, 2023 [5 favorites]

Drewbage1847, I'm in a serious kitchen slump and I appreciate the effort you put into these posts. There's always a lot of good inspiration!
posted by jellywerker at 4:07 AM on September 19, 2023 [9 favorites]

I was just watching beloved F1 driver Alex Albon eating some Singaporean dishes & thought "I should try making that chicken rice, it sounds delicious." Beyond delighted to find a recipe right here!
(Albon said it's better spicy like they make it Thailand, but I'm a wimp so.)

Logan Sargeant, America's own F1 driver, called it "just like teriyaki chicken" and ranked it about 7.5/hamburger.
posted by Baethan at 5:35 AM on September 19, 2023

Avgolemono! (Greek lemon soup.) For years this was my go-to under-the-weather chicken soup, which kinda ruined it for me--it just reminded me of being sick. (See also: jello.) It's nourishing and dead easy to make, though. The Serious Eats version has chicken in it, but I prefer the simpler porridgelike ones that just use broth.
posted by miles per flower at 5:41 AM on September 19, 2023 [6 favorites]

A note on arroz con pollo: the recipe here calls for sazón which is correct, then links to a homemade recipe that’s “healthier” because the author has cut out the the primary ingredient, MSG, which is incorrect. MSG is not unhealthy (previously) and is available at the store if you want to add it to this recipe in place of half the salt.
posted by Jon_Evil at 6:37 AM on September 19, 2023 [8 favorites]

From a couple days ago, London chef Elizabeth Haigh tries the Tik Tok rice cooker Hainan Chicken Rice recipe.
posted by GamblingBlues at 6:58 AM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

I always told myself that if the shit ever hit the fan I'd get a chicken and rice farm going. I could eat it every day and have a ton of variety.
posted by keep_evolving at 6:59 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

I was expecting Maurice Sendak, chavenet, but I was also expecting Carole King:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9VvlI6sHJw

The whole Really Rosie musical is superb. There are even some extra tracks that didn't make it into the animated version
posted by dgr8bob at 7:05 AM on September 19, 2023 [4 favorites]

In my experience, Mexican restaurants have two dishes they'll label as arroz con pollo and one of them is chicken and rice in a cheese sauce and the other is chicken and rice in a cheese sauce with fajita vegetables (grilled bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes) stirred in with them and the latter is maybe one of the most perfect foods this world has produced.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:16 AM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

The Hainan chicken place nearest me closed a few months ago, and I still mourn. They had a most excellent pair of sauces, including a spicier green sauce that offset the richness of the rice nicely.
posted by praemunire at 7:25 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

drewbage1847: “Oyakodon - savory chicken, onion, eggs and a bowl of steamed rice”

“Japan's Tastiest Rice Bowl, OYAKODON | Chicken and Egg Bowl”—Champ's Japanese Kitchen, 19 September 2021
posted by ob1quixote at 7:58 AM on September 19, 2023

The stovetop chicken and rice dish from Pierre Franey's The New York Times 60 Minute Gourmet was my first go-to company dish and also the first thing I ever cooked for Mr. Structure. He chopped up the onions and we had a very surreal conversation when he asked me "Finely? Coarsely?" and I thought he was telling me the name of the law firm a mutual acquaintance worked for.
posted by ALeaflikeStructure at 8:29 AM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

Growing up my mother made this recipe she called chicken and rice. You simmer a whole chicken in water with carrots, onions, done sage. Finish with some half and half and frozen peas, serve over rice. It's just my favorite comfort food. It's warm and delicious. Since she's no longer here it reminds me very strongly of her and her warmth and love.

I've taken it with me and have done endless variations, very brothy, different veg mix, adding in hatch peppers when I get them roasted on bulk, one I got super fancy and steamed the rice in the broth and did a perfect brunoise on the carrots, onions, and celery I added in to serve. But it's always great and I read the recipe everyone even though I have it memorized because my mom wrote it and I can hear her voice.
posted by Carillon at 8:36 AM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

I made this biriyani recipe this weekend. Highly recommend. Rick Stein's India is on Amazon and well worth a watch if interested at all. Not too difficult if attempted on a Sunday. Maybe not a Tuesday.
posted by Keith Talent at 8:44 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

My brother, whose career is in the US rice industry, says that Calrose rice has the best flavor.
posted by neuron at 9:06 AM on September 19, 2023 [5 favorites]

In "Matt Makes A Run For The Border," a collection of recipes and stories by the late Matt Martinez Jr., there is a recipe entitled Big Mack Chicken (Where the Rubber Meets the Road). The recipe is simple and straightforward -- it doesn't need to be anything beyond that, it's tasty as-is -- but the story is great.

When Matt was dating his eventual wife, he paid a visit with her to her family's home. Things were pleasant and uneventful until a loud SCREECH! of brakes was heard outside, followed by a muffled thump. It seems that one of the chickens they had been raising had escaped its pen, wandered into the road, and been rendered inert by a passing Mack truck.

The grandmother ran out as fast as her legs could carry her and collected it. Matt thought at first that, perhaps, this particular chicken was a pet or otherwise special to her -- was she bringing it back to bury it, or something like that? Instead, she took it to the kitchen, plucked it, cleaned it, removed any evidence of tire tread marks, and set about putting its remains to good use.

"That night, out came the best damned chicken and rice I'd ever eaten," Matt wrote. "I bowed my head, knowing that I was in the presence of a master."
posted by delfin at 9:49 AM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

Funny that I never considered gumbo a chicken-and-rice dish, since you can according to your preference dial down the quantity of rice approaching zero. And in many cases it should be called andouille-and-chicken gumbo, unless you of course have seafood gumbo where chicken is verboten (at least in my family)

I'm pretty happy with chicken being the star of my jambalaya, especially if that chicken has been exposed to smoke, and you throw in a little tasso.
posted by credulous at 10:37 AM on September 19, 2023

Now I want dak juk.

And I happen to have a rotisserie chicken in my fridge.
posted by kathrynm at 11:58 AM on September 19, 2023

Hainanese Chicken Rice/Nasi Ayam/Khao Man Gai. Food of the gods.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:02 PM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

We usually do grilled chicken (breast or thigh, I prefer skin on bone in thigh) served with rice on the side and a steamed vegetable in our house. I'll marinate the chicken in a wet marinade most of the time, but other times, I'll do just salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and either some paprika/dried pepper or herbs or paprika and herbs. Husband's figured out how to grill chicken thighs, get them cooked but not dry, and not burn the skin. In the winter, or if it's too wet outside, I'll roast them for 20 minutes skin down, then 20 minutes skin up at 425.

I'll use marinades from Stubbs & Lawry's, mostly, unless I pull together my own marinade. And a lot of the times, I'll prep my chicken, apply marinade/seasonings and bag them in a freezer bag for the freezer. Easy way to meal prep when chicken's on sale.

As for the rice, it's jasmine rice from Thailand. I grew up on that particular variety, so that's the main rice in my kitchen.
posted by tlwright at 1:17 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Once, when my eldest daughter was three or four years old, I asked her what to cook for dinner, and she replied "chicken with gravy and delicious stuff". In retrospect I understand she meant a traditional Danish pot-roasted chicken with new potatoes, pickled cucumber, rhubarb preserve, garden peas and a cream gravy, all made by my grandmother. With a fruit desert, like we had been eating many times during summer. But I think it was autumn or even winter, and these things were far from my mind. So I stuffed a chicken with a mix of parboiled rice, raisins, dates, pine nuts, almonds, onions, garlic parsley and middle eastern spices and then braised it in butter and wine, and it was pretty good. The gravy was stupendous. But obviously she was disappointed. I still recommend, and I think she would too, in spite of the fact that I have only made it rarely since then.

Generally all types of chicken fricassees are very good with rice.

I live with an adult daughter and her boyfriend, and they are very climate-conscious, if not activists, so our meat intake is very limited. They are not vegetarian, and actually today they made beef pho, but too late at night for me to participate. What I am getting at is that we rarely eat supermarket cuts of chicken. If we eat chicken it is whole and organic. But we will often split it up and eat it over several days. Regardless, that means that the cheap chicken and rice dishes we had very regularly when the kids were small are now off the board. What we may have is a risotto, made with the bones of a chicken that has been roasted and then used for several other meals. Or I might make a Kung Pao Chicken with the breast meat, and then the other parts go into other things, like chicken stews or fricassees. I think that maybe I want to center the chicken a bit more now when it is a rare occurrence.
posted by mumimor at 2:49 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm not even going to fight that hainanese chicken rice is being claimed fully by Singapore. Would kill for some congee right now tho.
posted by cendawanita at 6:02 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

That sounds amazing mumimor
posted by kathrynm at 7:41 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

A Mastodon post recently pointed me toward this popular-audience summary of research on the topic of washing rice, and I'm conflicted. Because getting arsenic and microplastics out of my rice sounds great, but "washing doesn't affect stickyness" is contrary to (what I thought was) my hands-on experience.
posted by Western Infidels at 6:22 AM on September 20, 2023

Nobody does chicken and rice like Juan.
posted by cmfletcher at 8:27 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm making congee right now. It's just rice, water, chicken and ginger in an instant pot, though. Next time, I'll see if I can incorporate some of Made With Lau's congee ingredients and techniques. Thanks for all the recipes!
posted by house-goblin at 11:57 AM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]

I made the Hainanese Chicken Rice from the video GamblingBlues linked for dinner tonight. The only difference was I had an instant pot so I did the whole thing in one pot, starting by rendering the fat from the skin on saute mode, then using that to cook the aromatics, and adding the rice, then adding the liquids, seasoning, and chicken. Also I had some chicken stock in my freezer so I used that + MSG instead of bullion powder. Holy shit it ruled. 10/10 will make again.
posted by Jon_Evil at 10:08 PM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]