Yam Rice

Sometimes we or our family may be tired of eating plain rice with our usual dishes. Or, we ourselves may be tired of cooking so many dishes to go with rice and would like to have an easier time with a 1-pot meal. Yam Rice is one of the best options available. It is savoury and delicious and is definitely a good change for us and our family once in a while. So far, I have not seen it being sold outside and the only way to enjoy it is to cook it myself.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice
• 1 big piece of Shiitake mushroom (May add more.)
• 100 g chicken breast
• 30 g dried prawns
• 400 g yam
• Cooking oil
• 3 pieces of shallots, sliced thinly
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped 
• Seasonings - sesame oil, salt, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, pepper powder (white and black)...to taste

Method:

• Wash 1 cup of rice. Set aside.

• Soak Shiitake mushroom till it is soft. Slice it thinly and set aside.

• Cube the chicken breast. Marinate it for at least 30 minutes with:
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder

• Wash and soak the dried prawns for about 15 minutes. Pound them and set them aside.

• Wash and skin the yam. Cut it into cubes of about 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch.

• Heat cooking oil in kuali.

• When the oil is hot, add the yam cubes. Fry them lightly (to prevent them from breaking up during cooking). Remove them from the kuali and set aside.

• Remove the oil from the kuali leaving about 2 tablespoon behind. Add in shallots and garlic. Saute till they are fragrant.

• Add the Shiitake mushroom slices and saute them till fragrant.

• Add the pounded dried prawns. Saute them till fragrant.

• Add the marinated chicken cubes. Fry till they are half cooked.

• Return the yam cubes to the kuali.

• Add the rice to the kuali and stir to mix it up with all the ingredients.

• Add salt (to taste), light soy sauce (to taste), dark soy sauce (according to how dark you want your rice to be) and white and black pepper powder (to taste).

• Transfer the rice and all ingredients to your rice cooker.

• Add enough water to cover the rice and the ingredients.

• Serve while the rice is hot, garnished with green onions and red chilies.