Macau-Style Baked Portuguese Chicken Rice. Delicious comforting chicken baked under melting cheese over rice with a creamy and mild coconut curry sauce! Great as a meal for the whole family to enjoy!
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What is Macau-Style Baked Portuguese Chicken Rice?
It's a delicious and popular Asian-style baked rice casserole dish! It features egg fried rice, tender chicken with a creamy curry-coconut sauce and bubbling cheese on top. It's a wonderful dish that originates from Macau, a former colony of Portugal (hence the name) but the dish itself doesn't exist in Portuguese cuisine.
This dish is commonly served at many Hong Kong style cafe's or "cha-cha-tengs". You'll often find it next to menu items like Baked Pork Chop on Rice or Baked Fish Fillet on rice and more. This is one of my husband's favourite dishes to eat at any cha-cha-teng! We often enjoy it with a hot serving of HK style milk tea. It's absolutely delicious, indulgent and a must-try if you enjoy baked rice dishes. The best part is that this is pretty simple to make at home and you can save yourself $15-20 while tripling the serving size!
Ingredients
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
Note: Most Asian grocers will carry these ingredients. You may find some at your select grocery store or online, like on Amazon.
- Chicken thighs
- Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Fried rice:
- White jasmine rice
- Eggs
- Regular soy sauce
- Neutral oil
Chicken marinade:
- Shaoxing Wine or Dry Sherry Wine
- Salt
- Garlic Powder
- Curry Powder
Coconut Curry Sauce:
- Onion
- Potatoes
- Curry Powder
- Whole Fat Canned Coconut Milk
- Turmeric
- Salt
- Neutral oil
How to make Macau-Style Baked Portuguese Chicken Rice
- Slice chicken thighs into half. Season chicken with Shaoxing cooking wine, salt, garlic powder, curry powder. Set aside to marinate as you work on the other ingredients.
- Peel and dice potatoes. Then boil in hot water for 5 minutes until fork tender. Strain and set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large pan on medium high heat. Add the cooked rice, breaking it apart. Then add soy sauce and eggs. Mix everything together until eggs are cooked. Transfer rice into a 9x13 baking dish and spread out evenly.
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
- Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil on high heat and fry diced onions until softened. Add in marinated chicken thighs. Brown chicken on each side for 5 minutes. Next add cooked potatoes, coconut milk, turmeric, curry powder and salt. Mix well.
- Spoon chicken and sauce over fried rice and spread out evenly. Sprinkle cheese over top. Broil in the oven at 500 F for 5-10 minutes until cheese has melted and browns slightly. Enjoy!
Storage & Reheating
This dish will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, microwave for 2-3 minutes or reheat on the stovetop in a pan on medium heat until hot.
Expert Tips
- Allow the chicken to marinate in the seasoning for about 5 minutes or more. This yields more flavorful chicken.
- Don't small dice the potatoes. Cut them into 1 inch cubes. Any smaller and they will disintegrate into the sauce.
- Don't over cook the fried rice. Once the cooked rice is mixed with the eggs and soy sauce, immediately transfer to the baking dish.
- Brown the chicken for extra flavor. The browning really takes the taste of chicken to the next level.
FAQ
Can I use another type of protein?
Yes, pork, beef or tofu could work.
May I omit the potatoes?
Yes, if you wish.
Can I use heavy cream instead of coconut milk?
Yes.
May I omit the cheese?
Yes.
Other Chicken recipes you may like!
- One-Pot Hainan Chicken Rice
- Chinese Chicken Fried Rice
- Chicken Pineapple Fried Rice
- Sweet Spicy Gochujang Chicken
- Chinese Five Spice Honey Chicken
- Mongolian Chicken
📖 Recipe
Macau-Style Baked Portuguese Chicken Rice
Ingredients
- 6 skinless boneless chicken thighs sliced into half
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
Fried rice:
- 6 cups cooked jasmine rice
- 4 eggs
- 3 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Chicken marinade:
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing Cooking Wine
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon Curry powder
Coconut Curry Sauce:
- 2 cups potatoes yellow russet
- ¾ cup yellow onion diced
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
- 14 fl oz. coconut milk full fat
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Slice chicken thighs into half. Season chicken with Shaoxing cooking wine, salt, garlic powder, curry powder. Set aside to marinate as you work on the other ingredients.
- Peel and dice potatoes. Then boil in hot water for 5 minutes until fork tender. Strain and set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large pan on medium high heat. Add the cooked rice, breaking it apart. Then add soy sauce and eggs. Mix everything together until eggs are cooked. Transfer rice into a 9x13 baking dish and spread out evenly.
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
- Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil on high heat and fry diced onions until softened. Add in marinated chicken thighs. Brown chicken on each side for 5 minutes. Next add cooked potatoes, coconut milk, turmeric, curry powder and salt. Mix well.
- Spoon chicken and sauce over fried rice and spread out evenly. Sprinkle cheese over top. Broil in the oven for 5-10 minutes until cheese has melted and browns slightly. Enjoy!
Jennifer
What kind of curry powder do you suggest using?
Christie Lai
I recommend using Japanese curry powder or Indian curry powder could work.
Cha
Yummy and easy to make! Reminds me of hkg and macau!!! A lil serving leaves you stuffed. 謝謝 你
Christie Lai
Thank you so much for making my recipe and for leaving a positive review! I'm so glad you found it satisfying, Cha 🙂
R
What's a substitute for Chinese cooking wine? I don't like the taste. Can I go without it in making this recipe?
christieathome
You can omit the Chinese cooking wine.
Flo
Made this for lunch and the family devoured every last bite. Much better than the HK cafe we normally order this dish from. Thank you for sharing!
christieathome
Thank you so much for making my recipe, Flo! I am so happy to read that it was better than the HK cafe! Appreciate your kind comment 🙂
Belinda
Great recipe! I’ve tried making this dish from a few other recipes and this one was the best. I really miss ordering this at Hong Kong cafes but I can’t find it where I live now. Will be keeping this for sure!
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe Belinda! So glad I could share this recipe with you so you can make it at home 🙂
Ada
This was delicious, tasted just like my local HK cafe’s dish! Thanks for the recipe!
christieathome
So thrilled to read this Ada! Thanks for making my recipe and glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Liz Rahal
Some in my family don't care for dark meat chicken. Do you forsee any negative results in using chicken breasts or tenders instead of thighs?
christieathome
Chicken breast can be used but it can easily dry out so I would reduce the cooking time as you brown it on the stove top (until you reach an internal temperature of 160 F). Then when you pop it in the oven to bake, it should reach 165 F.
kevin O'Shea
The video was enticing, so I thought I'd give it a try. I had to tweak a couple of minor things but it tuned out REALLY good! We're definitely having this as a regular dinner dish from now on.
christieathome
Thanks so much for the kind words and for making my recipe Kevin! I'm so glad you enjoyed it with the tweaks and happy it'll be a regular dish on rotation.
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
I have had quite a few different chicken and rice casseroles, but your coconut curry sauce really brings something fun and fresh to this dish. YUM!