In these times of #quarantinecooking we focus on our staples. Sometimes to even make them somewhat different. Why? Because we might be bored or just simply you need to use some of your ingredients before they spoil. That’s what happened here. Not because I was bored, but I needed to use some of my ingredients. Freezing them at that stage wasn’t going to be fruitful, so I made some tweaks to my arroz con pollo.

InstantPot Version: link here

The best part of this meal: It’s a ONE. POT. MEAL. If you’re cooking for your family and tired of the dishes, here’s an answer. Hope you enjoy!

Serves- 6 people
Cook Time: 60 mins

Ingredients:

6 skin on, bone in, chicken thighs (pat dry)
Kosher Salt
2-3 shallots, finely chopped
10 garlic cloves, chopped
2 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
2 cups of jasmine rice (you can use basmati), rinsed (if you don’t rinse it, you would need to cook it more!)
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
2 tablespoon of sofrito
3 cups of water or chicken stock

Cook:

1. Pat your chicken thighs dry, season all over with salt.

Tip: If you are a planner, you can pat the chicken down and season with salt, leave it in the fridge. That would make the chicken skin extra crispy.

– Arrange skin side down in the cold, dry medium Dutch oven (my big le creíste for the win!) and set over medium heat. Cook undisturbed, until chicken is crispy and EASILY releases from the pot (if its stubborn, leave it alone!) this can take up to 10 mins.

–Flip the chicken and cook for 5 mins. Transfer chicken to a plate, cool for 2 mins.

2. Set pot over medium-low heat; add shallots, garlic, ginger, cook. Stir constantly until fragrant, but not brown about 2 mins. Stir in rice and cook. Stir constantly for 1 minute. Stir in soy sauce, a pinch of salt (about 3/4 tsp of salt), and 3 cups of water (or chicken stock).

3. Remember your crispy chicken? Add those to the pot skin side up. Increase heat to medium, bring liquid to a simmer. Immediately close the Dutch oven, reduce heat to low and cook for 25 minutes. Remove from heat and let chicken and rice sit for 10 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

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