Steamed Jelly Ear Chicken Rice!

This is one of my favourite Chinese dish - Steamed Jelly Ear Chicken Rice! I actually had to look up what jelly ear is in english, as this ingredient is rarely seen used in western food, and I don't think I have ever seen this term used in english context (maybe it's just me?). Jelly ear is probably the only type of fungi/mushroom I eat.. (very picky of me..:P)

You will need:
(2 servings)

3 chicken thighs
10 jelly ears
2 bowls of rice
soy sauce
ground pepper 
sugar
cornstarch
ginger

Steps:
1. Wash the jelly ears and soak in water until it becomes enlarges and softens.
2. Cut away the hard ends of the jelly ears. Prepare the ginger by peeling it then cutting it into strips or mince/grind it like I did.
3. Cut the chicken thighs into small pieces. Marinate with soya sauce, sugar, ground pepper and cornstarch. For better taste, leave it for at least half an hour.
4. Prepare the rice in rice cooker. Use 75-80% of the amount of water you normally use for the rice  because it can get really moist when you add the chicken later as it releases moisture/sauce. Add in the chicken and jelly ears on top of the rice in the rice cooker as soon as the water in the rice disappears.
5.When the rice cooker timer is up, it may not mean the chicken is fully cooked, so leave it in the rice cooker and until it is fully cooked with the remaining heat. 
6. Mix everything up to make sure the sauce gets mixed into the rice thoroughly.

Picture taken straight from the rice cooker

Mix.. Mix.. Mix..