Steps

1. Rinse the rice and place it in the inner pot of the rice cooker. Add plenty of water and let it soak for 30 minutes. [Key Tip!] This ensures the rice cooks up fluffy without any hard centers.
   🕒 01:52
2. Finely chop 1/4 onion.
   🕒 02:08
3. Thinly slice 1 clove of garlic. [Key Tip!] Be sure to remove the garlic germ, as it can cause bitterness.
   🕒 02:32
4. Take the remaining 3 cloves of garlic, cut them in half lengthwise, remove the germ, and mince them coarsely.
   🕒 02:56
5. Trim any excess sinew, skin, and fat from the 2 chicken thighs. Pierce both sides with a fork. [Key Tip!] Piercing helps prevent the chicken from shrinking during cooking.
   🕒 03:22
6. Season both sides of the chicken thighs with salt and pepper to taste.
   🕒 03:50
7. Heat about 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a frying pan. Fry the sliced garlic until fragrant and golden brown, then remove from the pan. [Key Tip!] Garlic burns quickly, so remove it as soon as it starts browning.
   🕒 04:07
8. Add 10g of salted butter to the oil in the frying pan, which now has the garlic aroma. Add the minced onion and garlic and sauté over medium heat.
   🕒 04:57
9. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper while sautéing. Cook until lightly colored but not browned, then transfer to a separate bowl.
   🕒 05:20
10. Lightly oil a frying pan with a small amount of vegetable oil and sear the chicken thighs, skin-side down, over medium heat. Press down with a spatula for even browning. [Key Tip!] Browning the skin well makes it even more delicious.
    🕒 05:40
11. Once the skin side is nicely browned, flip and lightly sear the other side. It doesn't need to be fully cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan for now.
    🕒 06:24
12. Thoroughly drain the soaked rice.
    🕒 07:06
13. To the inner pot with the drained rice, add 1 tbsp of cooking sake, 1 tsp of mirin, 1 tbsp of soy sauce, and 1/2 tbsp of chicken stock powder. Add about 1/2 tbsp of the rendered fat from the fried chicken. [Key Tip!] This uses all the chicken's flavor and helps the rice cook up fluffy.
    🕒 07:10
14. Mix everything well. Add the sautéed onion and minced garlic and mix again thoroughly.
    🕒 07:33
15. After mixing well, add water up to slightly below the 2-cup line. [Key Tip!] Filling to the 2-cup line exactly can result in mushy rice, so be careful.
    🕒 07:45
16. Finally, place the seared chicken thighs on top and cook using the regular rice setting.
    🕒 07:59
17. Once the rice is cooked, open the lid and remove the chicken. Mix the rice thoroughly. [Key Tip!] The rice will be fluffy and each grain will stand out.
    🕒 08:18
18. While being careful not to burn yourself, cut the removed chicken into bite-sized pieces.
    🕒 08:53
19. Serve the cooked garlic rice on a plate. Garnish with baby leaves (not included in ingredients) for color. Top with the cut chicken.
    🕒 09:05
20. Sprinkle with the prepared fried garlic chips to taste and garnish with parsley (not included in ingredients) if desired. Enjoy!
    🕒 09:23