Honey Soy Chicken and Rice
Slow cooker drumsticks rebuilt as a one-pot dinner with freeze-dried chicken and instant rice.
- calories
- 690
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 115
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 12 min
- water
- 500 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Liquid fuel
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Bikepacking
- Canoe / raft
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Instant rice | 1 cup dry | the 5-minute kind, not parboiled |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried cooked chicken | 1.5 oz | |
| Freeze-dried broccoli | 1/2 cup | |
| Soy sauce powder | 2 tbsp | coconut aminos powder works the same |
| Honey | 2 tbsp | in a small squeeze tube |
| Chicken bouillon | 1 tsp | |
| Ground ginger | 1/2 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1/2 tsp | |
| Cornstarch | 1 tsp | |
| Toasted sesame oil | 2 tsp | dropper bottle |
| Sesame seeds | 1 tsp | |
| Dried chives or scallion flakes | 1 tsp |
Method
- Boil 500 ml of water. Drop in the chicken and broccoli first and let them sit off heat for five minutes to rehydrate.
- Bring it back to a simmer, stir in the rice, cover, and pull it off the flame. Wait five minutes.
- Stir in the soy powder, bouillon, ginger, garlic, cornstarch, and honey. The cornstarch needs about a minute of residual heat to pull the liquid together.
- Pour the sesame oil over the top and scatter the sesame seeds and chives. Stir once and eat.
The original is a slow cooker recipe: drumsticks braised for hours in soy, honey, and broth, then grilled for crust. None of that survives a stove and one pot, so what carries over is the sauce. Soy, honey, ginger, garlic, and sesame oil are the whole flavor, and every one of them travels dry or in a tube.
Cornstarch is worth the teaspoon. Without it the sauce sits at the bottom of the pot and the rice on top stays plain. Add it after the rice has absorbed most of the water, while the pot is still hot, and it thickens what’s left into a glaze instead of a puddle. Bone-in drumsticks become freeze-dried chicken here, which loses the fat but keeps the protein; the sesame oil puts some of the calories back.
Packing
Everything dry goes in one bag except the cornstarch mix and the seeds, which go in a small corner bag so you can add them at the end. Honey and sesame oil ride in tubes, upright, in a side pocket.
Variations
- A foil pouch of chicken replaces the freeze-dried version if you would rather carry the water weight.
- Swap the rice for instant ramen noodles and cut the water to 350 ml.
- A pinch of red pepper flakes cuts the honey if the sweetness runs long.
https://mealswithmaria.site/slow-cooker-soy-honey-chicken-drumsticks