Chicken Bog is a South Carolina, Low-Country dish that dates
back to the 1700’s. Doing my research I found several stories
on how the name came to be, most had a similar story with a
few different theories.
During the slave trading days of the 1700’s its believed that a
sea Captain brought long-grained rice from Madagascar to the
southern colonies. The rice was planted in the coast areas
around Charleston, in fields covered with water called bogs
(rice grows best when submerged in water). South Carolina
became the leading rice producing state until the Civil War,
with a rice called Carolina long-grain rice. The locals would
brown off side meat such as bacon and/or fresh rope sausage,
with onions. They boiled off whole chickens, picked the meat
from the bones, added the side meats, onions and black pepper
to the broth. Rice was stirred into the broth and allowed to
cook until the rice absorbed all the broth. Hence the word
“Chicken Bog” rice bogged down in a liquid, such as rice is
bogged down in the field. There are as many recipes for
making chicken bog as there are for making southern pork
BBQ, but most recipes have most of the same ingredients, just
quantity differences. Chicken Bog is also known by the name
Chicken Pilau ( pronounced “per loo”), which is the most
widely recognized name for most people, both names can be
used for the same dish. Chicken bog is a very popular dish
served at churches, local gatherings and any place you need to
serve a large crowd.