Three-Cube Chicken and Rice
Three bouillon cubes make a broth strong enough to cook rice in. Everything else rides along.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 5.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 131
- protein
- 34 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 14 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
- Liquid fuel
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Basecamp
- Car camping
- Winter / snow
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Chicken bouillon cubes | 3 cubes | three is not a typo; two makes weak broth |
|---|---|---|
| Instant rice | 1 cup | parboiled, the kind that rehydrates in five minutes |
| Freeze-dried or canned chicken | 2 oz | foil pouch if you can find it |
| Dried vegetables | 1/3 cup | carrot, onion, celery, peas |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/2 tsp |
Method
- Bring 500 ml of water to a boil and crush the three cubes into it. Stir until no lumps sit on the bottom.
- Add the dried vegetables and chicken. Simmer four minutes so the vegetables get a head start.
- Dump in the rice, stir once, and pull the pot off the stove.
- Lid on. Wait eight minutes without opening it. The residual heat does the rest.
- Stir in the oil and pepper. If it is still soupy, lid it another two minutes.
The original is a pressure-cooker roast: tough meat, salted broth, an hour under steam until the connective tissue gives up. None of that travels. What does travel is the part actually doing the work, which is the broth. Three bouillon cubes in half a liter of water is a heavy hand on purpose, because the rice absorbs most of it and unsalted rice tastes like nothing.
The pot stays on the flame only long enough to soften the vegetables. Instant rice does not need boiling, it needs hot liquid and time, so the lid replaces the stove for the last eight minutes and saves fuel. The oil goes in at the end. Added early it just coats the grains and slows down how fast they take up water.
Packing
Rice, dried vegetables, crumbled cubes, and pepper share one bag. Oil goes in a dropper bottle, chicken pouch stays sealed until camp.
Variations
- Swap the rice for instant mashed potatoes and cut the water to 350 ml.
- Add a handful of egg noodles instead of rice for a longer simmer and thicker broth.
- Beef cubes and dried mushrooms make a darker version of the same dinner.
https://www.huntingpa.com/threads/anyone-still-use-a-pressure-cooker.5062