Tuesday 9 October 2007

Baked Rice

I was initially planning to cook my usual rice-cooker chicken rice for dinner last night. Upon several requests by the rest of the family members, in the end, I came up with this Chicken & Mushroom Baked Rice in creamy sauce.


I have tried making baked rice dishes several times. When it comes to cooking dishes, I have a tendency not to follow the recipes closely. Somehow, I do not have the habit of measuring the ingredients, I simply estimate the amount needed. As a result, sometimes the rice will be too dry, sometimes the combination just didn't seems to be right...most of the time it turned out to be too bland or not creamy enough.


This time round, I still didn't follow the recipe exactly, but at least, I took the effort to measure the amount of cream, and the amount of chicken stock required. This actually paid off. The rice was not dry at all and it was creamy enough, though I should have added more black pepper.

My kids love the golden cheesy crust and both saved it till the last to finish off. In fact, they had a bigger rice portion than what they usually take if it they were given plain rice. I reserved a portion for my better half, and when he called to say he would be home soon, I added the cheese toppings and popped the dish into the oven. When he returned, he was pleased to have a piping hot baked rice fresh from the oven...the only thing he complained was, his portion was too small ;)

Ingredients:
(serves 4)

1.5 cups uncooked rice
2 chicken thigh
100g fresh mushrooms of your choice , sliced thickly
some minced garlic
1 cup cream (dairy)
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt (adjust according to taste)
some black pepper
some grated mozzarella cheese
dried parsley

Method:

  1. Wash and cook rice with rice cooker.

  2. Bring a pot of water to the boil, put in the chicken thigh and boil till the chicken is almost cooked. Let cool and shred the chicken into bite sizes. Reserve half cup of the chicken stock.

  3. Heat up a deep pan, with some cooking oil (or butter) stir fry minced garlic and mushrooms. Add in the shredded chicken meat. Add pepper and salt to taste. Continute to stir fry till the mushrooms become soft.

  4. Add in the cream, stir well. Add in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. (Note, always add cream BEFORE the chicken stock, otherwise the mixture may not be smooth.)

  5. Add in the cooked rice. Stir and let it cook for a few mins or until the sauce is almost fully absorbed by the rice.

  6. Place rice into a heatproof baking dish. Cover top with grated cheese.

  7. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 degC, till the cheese turns golden brown. Sprinkle with some dried parsley. Serve immediately.

78 comments:

Anh said...

This is really yummy! I think I like it as much as your kid.

Anonymous said...

mmmm looks yummy! thx for sharing this recipe.. will try this out one day cos i think my boys will love it! ^_^

Anonymous said...

Your baked rice looks tempting! May I know what is dairy cream? or what brand you're using. Wud like to try it out. Such a simple meal is a breeze to make.. I have to crack my head EVERYDAY what to cook for my family :( Thanks for sharing your recipes.

JY said...

Thanks for sharing the recipe, does not look too difficult to prepare.. will get helper to do it for quick meal one of these days. :)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Anonymous, there are two types of whipping cream, dairy and non-dairy. Dairy are from animal fats while non-dairy are made from veg fats. You can get dairy cream from cold storage, carrefour, there are brands such as President UHT Whipping Cream, or Bulla. For this dish, I used dairy cream bought from Phoon Huat, comes in 1 litre pack, it's much cheaper :)
Me too, I always have to crack my head what to cook for my family!!

Aimei said...

This looks yummy and easy! I like to make dishes using the oven..Only thing i worry is the amount of cream..hehe

By the way, ur plum cake looks good. Doesn't seem to be as what u described. Probably it really needs a bit of chilling to bring out the flavour.

keep on posting! :)

serena said...

Wow! I've always love baked rice from Swensons. Now with your recipe, I can finally try it out. Just 2 questions. Where can I buy the heatproof baking dish? Also, if I don't have diary cream can I use the non diary type? The same one for frosting cakes? I've got leftover in the freezer.

Happy Homebaker said...

Aimei, I share the same sentiments, cream is very fattening!! I donno, maybe it's the first time I have tasted a plum cake, so, I really didn't know whether it should taste that way :)

Serena, you can't use non-dairy cream, it will taste horrible, I think! It'll have to be dairy cream :)

Patricia Scarpin said...

We are a nation of rice lovers and I'm bookmarking this recipe right now! It looks delicious, sweetie!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Pat, welcome back! I didn't know you like rice :) We eat rice almost everyday =)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Serena, sorry, I missed out your other question! I got the ovenproof baking dish from Ikea, it comes in a set of 2 (one oval and one rectangle), cost $7.90 a set.

Anonymous said...

which type of cream do u buy for tis baked rice?

can we don put the cream?


Thanks

Cindy

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Cindy, I got the dairy whipping cream from Phoon Huat, the brand is Millac, which comes in a blue packaging in 1 ltr. If you omit the cream, the baked rice will not be creamy. On the other hand, you can also use canned soup instead to replace the chicken stock and cream. The taste will be less creamy. Hope this helps!

Anonymous said...

oh ok thanks! noted.

btw UHT whipping cream is for cake? can use for tis? i think cannot ba righT?

how bout the brand nestle de. small can one? blue white packaging.

sorry to trouble u.
thanks a million!

cheers!
cindy

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Cindy, yes, it's the dairy whipping cream which is also used in certain cake recipes. But do take note it is not the Non-dairy whipping cream. I have not tried using the nestle pouring cream for this bake rice. So I am not able to give any comments on this. I made this baked rice for dinner tonight :)

Akemi said...

hihi.. ur baked rice look real yummy.

Can i ask what type of rice did you use? Calrose or the normal Thai rice?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Akemi, I used the normal Thai rice. Hope this helps :)

Sharon T.HM said...

hello! your baked rice look AWESOME!

im trying to make baked rice too, for my godsis.

but the things is, she's allergied to dairy products and meat. >.< so i can't use milk, butter, egg, cream and chicken/chicken stock.

do you think i could change the chicken meat to fish? and you mentioned that if we do not want to add in cream and stock, we could add canned soup. what kind of canned soup then? tomato soup? hahahas. =D

i love your website!! its very detailed! =))

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Mai, you can use a can of mushroom soup to replace the cream and stock. I am not sure whether the combination of fish with mushroom will be nice?? but you can try using salmon...but since she's allergied to dairy products, this dish may not be a good choice??

Akemi said...

thanks. I tried over the hols.. taste good! But i guess i didn't see the chicken stock qty correctly, added too much and my rice become mushy :P

sHuying said...

Hi there. :)

First of all, thanks for sharing ur recipe.

Cooked the baked rice last nite. It was a bit tastless. Any suggestions on how i can improve? =p

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Shuying, hmmm, I guess maybe you will have to adjust the amount of salt accordingly. The other thing is the chicken stock and the dairy cream. I used dairy whipping cream either from Phoon Huat, or this brand Bulla (heavy cream) from supermarts. It gives a very rich creamy taste to the dish. Hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

hi there~ i chanced upon your blog and i love your recipes and colourful pictures! im only 20 this year, but i love cooking as well :) made an apple crumble few days ago. there's alot of alternatives for this dish oh. i made before the pasta version. just replace the rice with pasta and use tomato sauce/paste instead of the cream, and you can add tuna too! i would like to try out your rainbow chocolate cake one of these days~ =p

Anonymous said...

It looks very tempting. Btw, how long you took to make the baked rice ?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi AIN!(:
Are you refering to the baking time? As my oven is on the 'cool' side, it took about 10-15mins before the cheese turned golden brown. The baking time would really depend on your oven.

-sHeiFFaaaaaaaaaaa ; blehs . said...

Hi. I'm cooking this for my home economics practical exam on monday, and i was wondering about these few things :

1) Can the chicken be replaced by salmon fish?

2) Is chicken stock really necessary? If not, what can i replace it with? Butter?

-sHeiFFaaaaaaaaaaa ; blehs . said...

Oh and, how long overall did it take you to do? Plus the baking times and all, i only got an hour! Haha.

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, you can use salmon instead of chicken. however, you may want to consider cooking the salmon separately. Maybe you can pan fry it and set aside, then prepare the rest as above. After you place the rice in the baking dish, you can then arrange the salmon on top, then cover with cheese. Maybe this way, the salmon will not be broken into pieces. Since you are using salmon, do not use chicken stock, just replace it with water will do. Good luck, and hope you can pass with flying colours :D

-sHeiFFaaaaaaaaaaa ; blehs . said...

Thanks so much :D
How long is the duration of the whole thing?

Anonymous said...

Hi. I bought BULLA Thickened cream, is that alright? I'll be cooking it tonight for dinner, so I want to make sure it's right. And Is it Halal?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi sHeiFFaaaaaaaaaaa ; blehs,
I think I took slightly more than an hour, as I need to boil the chicken. I am not sure whether you can complete it within one hour...so, maybe u want to do a 'test run' at home to see how it goes??

Hi Anonymous, yes, I use Bulla thickened cream. However, I have no idea whether it is Halal, sorry I'm of not much help.

-sHeiFFaaaaaaaaaaa ; blehs . said...

sorry im disturbing, but for my case i am going to fry the salmon at home , since my home economics is during the first period. Do you think I will have time to complete it?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi sHeiFFaaaaaaaaaaa ; blehs,
I can't say for sure you can complete it on time, especially since it is the first time your are trying to cook this dish. It is advisable to try it out at home before your actual test.

Anonymous said...

Hello there,

I've tried doing this before but it turned out rather bland ):
Was wondering if I were to replace the cream and stock w the campbell cream of mushroom, is that fine?
Or do I use cream of chicken mushroom?
Oh and, do I use the whole can?
Thanks :D

Anonymous said...

Oooh and I forgot!
For the rice, I just have to cook it as per normal right?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, I think you can replace it with campbell soup, although I have not tried it. As for the amount, you wil have to adjust it, maybe you can use 1.5 cups (after you have mixed 1 can of soup with 1 can of water). As for the favour, I personally prefer cream of mushroom. Yes, the rice is cooked as per normal. Hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

Hi hhb

Tried your baked rice recipe today, but because i used 2cups of rice instead of 1 1/2cups. But it still taste very good, except its a little on the dry side. Will surely cook this very often. Fast and easy and simple dish. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Great blog too! Keep it coming! thanks

Anonymous said...

hey, I stumbled upon your blog whilst searching for recipes on how to make chicken baked rice.

I thought it's super cool that you would go to the trouble to write up recipes as well as take pictures of your home-cooked fare to share w/ everyone. am totally gonna try your recipe out.

thanks for sharing!(:

Anonymous said...

Hi , urms i wanna try making this baked rice tomorrow for lunch but...i have some ingredient i do not have and about the Dairy Cream 1 Cup..What " CUP " do you actually use i mean..i have alot of cups and it come in different sizes and shapes and i'm not sure exactly the amount of cream i should put @@ .

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Tasmin, one 'cup' refers to the standard measuring cup, not any other cup ;) One cup is also equivalent to 250ml. You dont have to follow the exact ingredient list...but you must have the grated mozzarella cheese and the dairy cream. Do take note that you Must add the cream before the chicken stock. Hope this helps, and I hope you will like this recipe.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

Can I use the normal slice cheese? Its cheaper.

Thanks !

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Anonymous, I'm afraid normal slice cheese will not give the same taste and texture as mozzarella cheese.

Anonymous said...

Hi! Thanks for helping me HappyHomeBaker.I tried making it and it was delicious!I added more BULLA thicken cream and the rice taste kinda nice not so dry.Urm do you mind adding me on the mail because my friend's birthday i coming soon and i would like to bake a cake and i have never done it before so i'm quite nervous because ingredients can be expensive @@ and i don't want to make a mistake and have to buy again.><..my email is freakharts@hotmail.com ^^ thanks!

Anonymous said...

Hi.Thank you for telling me 1 cup stands for how many ML.Urms do you mind adding me at my mail freakharts@hotmail.com because i wanna try baking a cake and i never did 1 before so i'm nervous i really nid alot of advice .I dont know even know what frosting is ! And there's alot of things i wanna ask too

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Tasmin, glad to hear that your baked rice turned out well :)

For a start you may want to learn about baking from these sites such as: baking911.com or joyofbaking.com

baking911.com provides very detailed information on baking, I am sure after reading thru the site you will get a better understanding on baking.

You can also pick up baking books from the library...I learn my baking from reading cookbooks...so far I have not attended any workshops or courses. If you can read Chinese? you can borrow Chinese baking books as most of them got lots of step by step photos to illustrate. You can always start from the very basics bakes...I started baking with brownies, cookies and muffins. They are easier for beginners..and I waited for quite some time before I was comfortable enough to make a sponge cake!

If you have any questions pertaining to any specific recipe that I have posted, feel free to leave a comment on that posting. I will try my best to answer them.

Anonymous said...

Hi Dearie

The grated mozarella cheese from ntuc is so X. Is there any place we can get good price ones. TQ

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi June, you can get a cheaper brand (no brand actually!) from cold storage. It is about $2.90 which comes in a small pack, 150g if I remember it correctly.

Anonymous said...

Hi. Like to ask u few qns.
1. how much is 1/2 cup of stock? i using the chicken brand stock, is it 1/2 cube? and if i use cube, 1/2 cup of water will be fine?

2. If im using the can, cream of mushroom, capbell kind, do i need to add water?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, 1/2 cup of chicken stock is 125ml. I boil the chicken with water, and reserve the half cup of the water as chicken stock. I am sorry, as I have not used any chicken cube, I not sure how much chicken cube you'll need. If you wish to use canned cream of mushroom, you don't have to add water, just measure out 1 cup (250ml) plus the 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Hope this helps :)

ann low said...

Hello Happy Home Baking,
I wanted to say thank you for this interesting recipe which i followed and everyone at home love it. so tdy i prepared this dish for the second time and changed the ingredients to seafood and i also post the recipe to my blog, which i hope you won't mind about it.

thank you
anncoo

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Anncoo, I have also tried a seafood version, I used prawns, squids and mussels ;)

Anonymous said...

I tried it last night and.......can't believe my mom grab one and a half bowl^-^ Next time I will try with seafood too, yummy yummy

Anonymous said...

Hello Homebaker, you have so many interesting recipes i have been visiting your blog DAILY!

Wana try this baked rice, wondering if using the water used to cook chicken, its enough to make a chicken stock for this recipe? No need to add any other ingredients? Wont it be too bland? Kindly enlighten cuz there is no way to correct a bland baked rice...thanks in advance!

...Lilacz

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Lilacz, you need to add salt and pepper to taste. I don't find the rice bland. I usually use about 1 tsp of salt. Since cooking dishes is unlike baking, you can adjust the taste to your own liking. I'm sorry as I am really not a good cook, maybe you want to try out other baked rice recipes from other sources, I really do not want you to make something that doesn't turn out nice :(

Anonymous said...

hello. i try bake this for dinner today. great. but i using metal bowl instead of heatproof baking dish.bcos i dont have any at home. the taste seem abit plain.the taste like something is missing. but i will try to make jap curry with this recipe again! :)
thanks for the recipe!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Anonymous, I am sorry to hear that this baked rice didn't turn out well. I am not a good cook, so sorry for the disappointment.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing this recipe! I have tried and my hubby kept saying its like restaurant standard!!! I have used other recipe for baked rice and it just tasted quite bad and the cooking hours is long!!!I did substitute the chicken stock from boiling the chicken with instant chicken stock though....:)...Lilacz

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this recipe. I made it for dinner tonight and it was delicious. This dish is available to order at our local restaurant and it is one of our favourite dishes.

Serene said...

Hi~
i made this for lunch just now. It's really nice! I didn't have mozzarella cheese so i used cheddar cheese instead. Would have been nicer if use mozzarella cheese =x

Thanks for sharing this recipe XD

Anonymous said...

thanks for posting this nice, easy and most importantly most SATISFYING dish. it will be in regular rotation now!

these are not as pretty as your pics but here you go anyway...

http://www.rawbw.com/~nani/temp/rb/

Jamie said...

hey! i am doing baked rice for my pratical exam. i am wondering if is it possible that i use chicken breast instead of chicken thigh? and what kind of mushroom did you used? and, can i buy the dairy cream in fairprice? which brand is better? plus, can i not use chicken stock? thanks(: sorry if i asked too much.

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Jamie, yes you can use chicken breast, although the texture will not be as good if you were to use chicken thigh. I used fresh white button mushrooms. You can use the brand Bulla thickened cream (from cold storage) or for a lighter taste you can try nestle cream (comes in a small tin, look for it at baking section at ntuc). You can use water instead of chicken stock, you need to adjust the taste accordingly. Hope this helps :)

Jaques said...

I love ur blog . I read it daily . I love the fact tat u made things sound easy, not daunting . I tried the strawberry sponge cake but the cake was a little dry n the icing cream was yummy . I m gg to try yr brownies n baked rice tonight ;)
hope my girls will like it !;)

Anonymous said...

Hi!! I am a 15 year old boy from Singapore. I find your baked rice simple and delicious! sadly the total cost of the ingredients got me around $16 , and its a huge bomb to my wallet. Your methods are easy to follow and understandable. I baked it and brought it to a funeral for my friends to try, they were amazed at the taste. Although i did forget to add enough salt xD
anyway thank you very much ! :)

Edwin Koh said...

Hi, I am wondering do you have the measurements for just one serving ? :) also the chicken stock you meant is it the water after you cooked the chicken with ? :) thanks !

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Edwin, I don't have the measurements for just one serving. You can used store bought chicken stock, eg Swanson's chicken broth.

Anonymous said...

Hi! I've done this twice now and at both times, they taste so delicious! Thank you for sharing your recipe! I hope you don't mind if I put your link in my blog!

Btw, for those looking for a Halal cream, Bulla (an Australian brand) manufactures them using Halal gelatin. They can be found in NTUC.

:)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi ofpealsandroses, thanks for trying this recipe, glad to hear that you like it :):) I didn't know Bulla cream is Halal, thanks for sharing this info!

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB,

Thanks for sharing this recipe. I cooked it for lunch and even my mum who doesn't eat cheese likes it. Hubby says it's nicer than restaurant's! I will try the seafood one soon :)

Shaine

Anonymous said...

Hi Hi!
We used your recipe and it turns out really good! A big thank you to you!!!

Anonymous said...

Hello Hhb, i just want to know that whether this dish can be completed with a convection/microwave? :)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, as long as your oven microwave comes with a baking function, you can use it.

Anonymous said...

How Long does it take to bake the cheese baked rice? How many minute?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, it takes about 10 to 15mins, as every oven works differently, do monitor after the first 10mins as the cheese will get burnt easily. hope this helps.

Kitchen Corner said...

Hi HHB,
I cooked this for dinner just now. So simple and so yummy. My little boy loves it and me too! I like the muisture stay in the rice, such a comfort food. Thanks for a nice recipe!

Anonymous said...

Hi, may I know how much water did you use to boil the chicken thigh? Do you simmer the chicken thighs until they are almost cooked? Do you have an estimated time? If the water level is reduced during boiling, do I have to refill water to cover the chicken thigh again?

- Jus

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, use water that is enough to cover the chicken thigh, i boil until it is cooked, not more than 10mins. You can add in more water if necessary.

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB,
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I tried it for the 1st time for dinner today and it turned out well. I used Nestlé dairy cream instead. Looking forward to more cooking!