French, Laundry… and Non-Claypot Claypot Rice

I look forward to French Class every week and today was no different. I’m glad I got to talk to two of my classmates, Gen and Sam, a little more today. Everyone seems really nice, but they are really quiet and keep to themselves and their own groups a little. I’m just really curious though – they must have some interesting stories to tell if they can turn up for French twice a week at times most people are usually working or studying, so I hope to have the chance to know them better over the next few weeks.

G brought us through our Qui?, Quand?, Ou? today and had us listen to a few recordings for this exercise we were about to do. I was absolutely lost but I managed to get all the answers through some clever guessing. I know it sounds really wrong out of context, but the kissing sounds helped. ;) There you go.

Over lunch I realised how absolutely much I miss Evie, Shaz and D. When the days are dull… when there are funny things, I can’t just whirl my chair round to have D amuse me with her comforting, acidic sense of humour; no Evie with her eyes wide open in disbelief; no Shazza with her hearty laugh. I comforted myself by buying cotton buds and an exfoliating lotion at Watson’s and stuffing my face with a wonderful Chicken Tikka Wrap. Fortunately, Shazza called and saved me from my gloom and forced me to go home and get my act together. Then C called and all is fine now (Yay!+ Phew.).

Back home, I came face to face with the mess I’d made at French Class. The messiest scrawling in my book everrr. Momma- Remember this notebook? ;)

Then, I had to reckon with the mess in my yard/laundry area. Hello Mountain. Hello person who created the Mountain.

Left with no choice, I started on the laundry while prepping for dinner while mumbling French phrases to myself. One cannot allow family members to come home, starving, to mountains of undone laundry.

I decided to bring back an old favourite to save time and maintain poise and sanity.

In fact, it’s so easy and fast to do, I actually forgot to take pictures once the actual cooking started. =/ My bad.

Non-Claypot Claypot Rice

4 Servings

Ingredients

2 cups of rice, cooked
2 skinless chicken breasts (Substitute with boneless, skinless chicken thighs if you like)
6 dried mushrooms – Soaked them in warm water then remove their stalks and slice thinly
2 tablespoons of ikan bilis
2 Chinese sausages, sliced

Marinate for chicken:

2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon corn starch
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon white pepper powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon Shaoxing Wine (I used Johnnie Walker Red Label cos that’s all I had at home =D )

Sauce for rice:

1 tablespoons light soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons cooking oil

1. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and drop them into marinate for an hour in the fridge.

2. Fry the ikan bilis in oil until crisp and set aside.

3. Heat a tablespoon of oil on medium heat in a frying pan and stir fry the Chinese sausage, chicken and mushrooms for a few minutes until the chicken turns white and is almost cooked.

4. Add the cooked rice and the sauces for the rice into the pan and toss to mix well.

5. Transfer back to rice cooker set on ‘Low’ or ‘Keep Warm’ for 20 minutes. Garnish with fried ikan bilis.

*For more flavour, cook the rice with the water used to soak the mushrooms in.

You may also add ginger sliced into thin matchsticks, as well as dried fish. I omitted both as I didn’t have any.