Chicken cook-up rice is a hearty dish of sautéed chicken, black-eyed peas, fresh herbs, veggies, and rice simmered in coconut milk. This Guyanese one-pot meal is typically made for New Year's Eve (Old Year's Night).
Course Chicken Main Dish
Cuisine Guyanese
Keyword chicken cook up rice, cook up rice, cook up rice Guyana, cook up rice Guyana recipe, cook up rice Guyanese, cook up rice recipe, guyanese chicken cook up rice, guyanese chicken cook up rice recipe, Guyanese cook up rice, guyanese cook up rice recipe
Prep Time 30 minutesminutes
Cook Time 1 hourhour
Total Time 1 hourhour30 minutesminutes
Servings 16
Calories 515kcal
Equipment
Large Stock Pot
Ingredients
11/2lbschicken thighs diced into 1 inch pieces
1cupdried black-eyed peassoaked over night and drained
2cupsof jasmine ricewashed and drained
2tablespoonof coconut oil or other oil for cooking
3cupsof freshly made coconut milk, or
1cupof canned coconut milk diluted with 2 cups of water
4cupsof water
1small oniondiced
2 tomatoesdiced
¼cupof fresh Asian Basil or Marridman poke finely chopped
Seasoning for the chicken
5clovesgarlicgrated or 1 tablespoon of granulated garlic
In a medium bowl, add chicken, garlic or granulated garlic, cassareep, brown sugar, salt and black pepper. Then mix together well and let marinate for at least 30 mins
Then add coconut oil to a large stock pot on medium heat and bring up to temperature
When the oil is hot add the marinated chicken and sauté for 10 mins or until it has a great sear and is brown on all sides
Then add the onions and tomatoes and continue to sauté for about 3 minutes
Next, add black-eyed peas and 4 cups of water and mix together well. Then increase the heat, cover and cook until the peas are tender enough to be crushed with your finger tips. This should take about 30 minutes
When the peas reaches the desired tenderness and all the liquids cook down, add the rice. Mix together well, then sauté for about 2 minutes to toast the rice a little before adding the coconut milk
Next add the coconut milk and the Asian basil, stirring the pot constantly to remove any stuck on bits from the bottom of the pot
Continue to stir as the coconut milk comes up to a boil, then reduce the heat to the lowest possible heat, cover the pot and let it steam until the rice is completely cooked. This should take about 30 minutes.
Then remove from the heat and fluff with a fork
Serve your cook-up rice hot!
Notes
When I first started making cook-up rice on my own, I used parboiled rice because it was the easiest to cook with and most forgiving. Now that I have mastered my cook-up rice making I use Jasmine rice which is my favorite rice to use for cook-up rice.
If you like a more soft and clammy cook-up rice, instead of fluffing the rice with a fork at the end, mix the rice together with the pot spoon and remove from the heat immediatly
I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs in this recipe but bone in chicken adds a lot more flavor to this dish.