Rice-cooker chicken with longan, red dates and millet
Chicken, dried longan, red dates and millet cooked with rice in one pot — sweet, soft and fragrant, nourishing qi and blood and leaving you warm through on a winter's day.
- 50 min
- Serves 3
- Rice cooker
- Easy
Why it suits you: As the cold deepens at Major Snow, a Qi-deficient constitution easily gets cold hands and feet, tiredness and a pale complexion. Longan and red dates nourish qi and blood, millet strengthens the spleen and stomach, and chicken warms the middle and boosts qi. Cooked in one rice-cooker pot, it is easy to pack for work and nourishes without overheating.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 35 min- 1Marinate the chicken with the soy sauce, cornflour, sesame oil and ginger for 15 minutes. Halve the stoned dates and rinse the longan.
- 2Rinse the rice and millet, put them in the rice cooker with the usual amount of water, and scatter the dates and longan on top.
- 3Start the cooker. After about 10 minutes, when the water is mostly absorbed, spread the chicken on top, close the lid and let it finish.
- 4When it clicks off, leave it covered for 10 minutes, then scatter with spring onion, fold through and serve.
Cautions
- Longan is warming; halve it if you tend to overheat or have a sore throat.
Chef's tips
- About one part millet to three parts rice gives the best texture; use your usual amount of water.
The TCM view
Chicken is sweet and warm, warming the middle and boosting qi. Longan is sweet and warm, supporting the heart and spleen, nourishing blood and calming the mind; millet is sweet, salty and slightly cool, strengthening the spleen and stomach and balancing the longan's warmth, and red dates support the middle and boost qi. Together they strengthen the spleen, replenish qi and nourish blood — suited to Qi deficiency as winter arrives.
