Steamed Chicken

I've made it a point to cook dinner more often. However, it hasn't always been easy with a needy 4 month old. I always have to make sure that she is asleep already or at the very least, is occupied with her toys. It is only then I can dash to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Nonetheless, the sooner I get started, Mia would give a cry for me... change of diapers, carrying around, play buddy or simply being manja. Only when I have her calm and settled down can I return to the kitchen to continue making dinner. So you'd understand if I were to tell you that I usually start preparing dinner at 1.00pm and finish cooking around 5.00pm - 6.00pm!

This had to be put to a stop! I therefore devised some quick and easy recipe which allows me to prepare dinner in a jiffy and at the same time attend to Mia. Here's one of them:

The 'I-don't-have-time-to-cook-Steamed Chicken'
In a bowl, marinate chicken with a pinch of salt, a dash of pepper, sliced carrots, sliced ginger, chopped garlic, a bit of sesame oil and some Gou Qi (Chinese berry). You can buy Gou Qi in supermarkets like Servay.

Now, I don't usually use Chinese herbs because I'm afraid of causing food poisoning with my concoction. However, I have learnt a bit about herbs from cPG during my confinement period and am now a little bit more daring to give them a try. Gou Qi works pretty well in soups and steam dishes... it gives the dish a natural sweet taste.
Once mixed, put the chicken meat with all the other stuff mixed with it onto a plate.

When I cook rice, I cook the Steamed Chicken together with it. Our Panasonic rice cooker comes with this steamer tray thingy, so I can place the plate on the tray. If your rice cooker doesn't have this steamer tray thingy, then just place a bowl in your rice cooker ontop of your washed rice grains and water, then your plate on top of the bowl.
See how it fits perfectly on top! Next, I just press the magic button to cook the rice.
Once the rice is cooked... so is the Steamed Chicken. Tadaaaa! We have dinner for two!