Healthy, ‘clean’ and with a hot sauce that will knock your socks off, this is a great lunch for a crowd. I love that it’s plain, but lifted by strong flavours: chilli, ginger and spring onion. It is of Chinese origin and most often found in Malaysia and Singapore, though it’s popular in Vietnam and Thailand, too.
425g15oz Thai jasmine rice, well washed and drained
salt
Instructies
Start with the chicken.
Put 4 litres (7 pints) of water, half the spring onions, the garlic and ginger into a large saucepan and bring to the boil.
Add the chicken.
When it returns to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Cover the pan, place it over the lowest heat and leave to cook for 50 minutes.
Take the chicken out of the stock and remove the breasts.
Return the rest of the bird to its stock, increase the heat and simmer gently for another 10 minutes.
Reserve 750ml (1¼ pints) of the stock then leave the chicken, covered, in the pot.
To make the chilli sauce, put all the ingredients in a food processor and whizz.
Scrape into a serving bowl.
For the rice, melt the butter in a saucepan and sauté the ginger and garlic for about three minutes.
Add the rice and sauté for another five minutes, stirring it round in the buttery juices.
Add the reserved stock, bring to the boil and cook until the rice looks pitted.
Reduce the heat to its lowest, cover and cook for 20 minutes.
Remove from the heat, still covered.
Mix the two soy sauces together with the sesame oil.
Trim the remaining spring onions and cut into lengths on the diagonal.
Put half of these on a small plate.
Halve the cucumber lengthways, slice very finely and arrange on another plate.
When you’re ready to serve, put the chicken breasts back in with the rest of the chicken, bring to the simmer to heat through, then cut the chicken into pieces (drumsticks, halved thighs and so on; it’s a good idea to have a cleaver on hand).
Increase the heat under the stock and reduce so it has a stronger flavour.
Put all the chicken on a platter with the breasts – cut in several slices – on top.
Spoon some of the soy-sesame dressing over, then sprinkle with the other half of the spring onions.
Sprinkle with the cucumber and Crispy fried shallots (if using).
Serve the chicken with the rest of the dressing, chilli sauce, rice and vegetables.
An oddity to us, perhaps – chicken, eggs and something that tastes like bananas – but this is such a satisfying dish (though, admittedly, I do not always choose to have the egg). It’s a doddle to make with leftover chicken (just heat it in a frying pan, then add it to the rice) but so good with juicy fried thighs, as here. Embellish freely. Try the Smashed avocado, the Avocado salsa and – a must for me – Chilli sauce.
Oh, before you complain that there are rather a lot of pans involved: sometimes it’s worth it.
3tbspgroundnut or sunflower oilplus more to fry the eggs and plantains
250g9oz tomatoes, chopped
2garlic clovesfinely chopped
4spring onionschopped
2red chillieshalved and finely sliced (I don’t deseed them)
¼tspdried oregano
1tspground cumin
salt and pepper
4skinless boneless chicken thighs
2ripe plantains
juice of 3 limes
6smalleggs
3tbspchopped coriander leaves
Instructies
Put the rice into a saucepan and add water to come just 2.
5cm (1in) above the level of the rice.
Bring to the boil, then boil vigorously until the surface looks ‘pitted’, as if the rice has lots of little holes in it.
Reduce the heat to very low, cover and cook for about 15 minutes.
Make sure the rice doesn’t scorch on the base of the pan.
Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan and cook the tomatoes for about five minutes.
Add the garlic, spring onions, chillies, oregano and cumin and cook for another two minutes.
Cover and leave in the pan.
Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in another frying pan.
Season the chicken thighs and cook them over a medium-high heat to get a good colour on both sides, then reduce the heat and continue until they are cooked through.
It will take about eight minutes in all.
Cut into strips and keep in the pan (covered) so they stay warm.
Heat enough oil in a frying pan to come to 2cm (¾in) deep.
Peel the skins from the plantains and slice into rounds about 1cm (½in) thick.
When a drop of water sizzles in the oil, add the plantain slices and cook until the undersides are golden brown.
Turn and cook on the other side until golden and slightly caramelized at the edges.
It takes about five minutes in all.
Lift out with a slotted spoon and put on to kitchen paper to soak up excess oil.
Pat the top of the slices too.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and squeeze on the juice of one of the limes.
They can sit happily while you fry the eggs.
Add the drained rice and chicken to the pan with the tomatoes.
Heat through well while you fry the eggs.
Stir the coriander into the rice mixture and squeeze on the remaining lime juice.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
Serve the chicken and rice with the plantains and eggs.
Jamaican chicken curry with sweet love apples and rum
Spicy and coconutty, Jamaican curry really can contain whatever vegetables you have to hand, so you can use sweet potato instead of pumpkin, or add peppers or carrots. It can also be hotter, so up the chilli content if you want to. My own additions to the traditional Jamaican version are caramelized tomatoes (tomatoes are known as ‘love apples’ there) – I like the sweetness they bring at the end – and a good slosh of rum (just enough to be detectable). I mean, why not?
Cumin and lime-scented potato salad with date and tamarind chutney
It might seem odd to drizzle a ‘chutney’ over asalad, but this is a smooth Indian chutney, rather than the thick, chunkyAnglo-Indian variety.The chutney recipemakes about 300ml (½ pint), which is more than you need for the potato salad,but it’s difficult to work with smaller quantities. The extra can be frozen inbatches.The potatoes andchutney are actually lovely on their own with some cucumber raita, but bothalso make brilliant side dishes for any chicken roasted with Indian spices andthey’re especially wonderful with Roopa’s lemon grass and turmeric chicken.
Roopa’s lemon grass and turmeric chicken with potato salad and date and tamarind chutney
One of my favourite dishes in the book, this recipe comes from my friend Roopa Gulati. Her mum used to make it. It is actually very simple to cook – it’s just spiced roast chicken with dressed potatoes, after all – but it is satisfying on every level: it looks like a painting when you set it on the table (all those dark colours); has contrasting flavours (slightly bitter turmeric beside sweet dates); and is an Indian dish that has a fairly limited ingredients list so it’s not time-consuming to make. You ideally need fresh turmeric; it looks like a skinny, bright-coloured root ginger. You’ll find it in larger supermarkets and ethnic shops. If you can’t find it, use 1 tbsp of ground turmeric instead, though it doesn’t make a paste. I couldn’t publish this recipe without its delicious accompaniments, Cumin and lime-scented potato salad with date and tamarind chutney.
60g3oz galangal or root ginger, peeled and chopped
1tspsalt
4tbsprice vinegar
2tbspvegetable oil
1½tspcracked black peppercorns
1.5kg3lb 5oz chicken
2limeshalved
smallbunch of Thai basilor mint if you can’t find Thai basil
125ml4fl oz chicken stock (optional)
Instructies
The day before, peel the turmeric and roughly chop (best to wear clean kitchen gloves; that yellow colour stains everything).
Remove the coarse outer layers from the lemon grass and trim the top and base.
Chop the rest – the softer bit of the lemon grass – as finely as you can.
Combine the turmeric and lemon grass with the chillies, the galangal and salt.
Blitz in a food processor or blender with the vinegar and oil and add the cracked pepper.
Make slashes in the chicken on its breasts and legs with a small sharp knife.
With gloved hands, rub the paste all over the chicken, pushing it into the slashes and inside the bird, too.
Cover loosely with cling film and marinate the chicken overnight in the fridge.
Bring it to room temperature before cooking.
Truss the bird, if you like; it does make it look neat.
The next day, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
Stuff the cavity with three lime halves and the Thai basil, squeezing the remaining lime half over the bird.
Roast in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes.
Three-quarters of the way through the cooking time, add the stock or the same amount of water to the tin and scrape the sediment off the bottom to mix in with the liquid.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
Serve the chicken with the juices from the pan, the potato salad overleaf and a cucumber raita.
The richest of the French chicken dishes in this chapter and a good Friday night treat for supper with friends. If you’re not partial to grapes you can use the same recipe, sauté about 125g (4½oz) of quartered button mushrooms once the dish is cooked and gently stir them in instead.
4skin-on bone-in chicken legsdrumsticks and thighs attached
1onionvery finely chopped
375ml13fl oz dry Riesling
3medium-large leeks
150ml5fl oz chicken stock
3sprigs of thymeplus leaves from 2 sprigs of thyme
1bay leaf
150ml5fl oz double cream
60g3oz seedless green grapes, not too big
squeeze of lemon juice
Instructies
Heat the oil and butter in a large sauté pan over a medium heat, season the chicken pieces and brown them on both sides until they are a good golden colour.
Don’t turn the chicken until it is easy to move, or the skin will tear.
It will take about eight minutes to brown both sides properly.
Remove the chicken and pour off all but 1 tbsp of the fat in the pan.
Add the onion and cook over a medium-low heat until it is soft but not coloured.
Add the Riesling and bring to the boil, stirring to dislodge the essences stuck to the bottom of the pan and reducing the wine by half.
Remove the dark leaves from the tops of the leeks and any coarse outer leaves.
Trim the bases.
Cut each leek into neat lengths of about 4cm (1½in).
Wash these, keeping them intact.
Add the stock to the pan and return to the boil.
Reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer, add the herbs and leeks and return the chicken with any juices that have run out of it.
Cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes.
Remove the leeks carefully with a slotted spoon – they should be tender by now – and set aside.
Continue to cook the chicken for another 20–25 minutes, then remove the chicken and reduce the cooking liquid by boiling; you want to end up with about 150ml (5fl oz).
Add the cream and the grapes and bring to the boil to cook the grapes and reduce the sauce.
You should end up with a sauce that just coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Remove the herbs.
Add the lemon juice and taste for seasoning.
Return the chicken and leeks to the cream sauce and gently heat through.
Serve with the extra thyme leaves sprinkled over the top.
There are many versions of this, some using a whole chicken, others using pieces. Some have only bacon and shallots, others include mushrooms as well. The key thing is that it’s light and uses white wine. I much prefer it to coq au vin made with red wine. I’ve always loved the name – ‘housewife’s chicken’ – and I’ve been cooking it since I was a teenager, when I came across a version in my mum’s old Cordon Bleu part work. It seemed to be the kind of French dish that, with just a little care, I could pull off.
275g9¾oz really small waxy potatoes (ideally peeled, but don’t worry if you’re in a hurry)
3garlic clovescrushed
200ml7fl oz white wine
150ml5fl oz chicken stock
1bouquet garni
salt and pepper
125g4½oz small button mushrooms
1tbspfinely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
Instructies
Heat half the oil in a casserole and sauté the bacon over a medium heat until it is golden all over.
Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add half the butter to the pan and brown the chicken on both sides.
Don’t let the fat burn as you are doing this.
Remove the chicken to a plate.
Pour off almost all the fat from the casserole, leaving about 1 tbsp behind.
Put the shallots into a saucepan of boiling water, reduce the heat and simmer for four minutes.
Drain and pat dry, then put them into the casserole with the potatoes and sauté these in the fat until pale gold.
Add the garlic and continue to sauté for two minutes.
Pour the wine into the pan and bring to the boil, then immediately reduce the heat and return the chicken and bacon, together with any of the juices that have run out of them.
Pour in the stock, add the bouquet garni and season.
Bring it all to the boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer.
Cook for 40 minutes, or until the chicken is tender and cooked through (when you pierce the flesh nearest the bone with the tip of a sharp knife the juices that run from the chicken should be clear, with no trace of pink).
The potatoes should be completely tender, too.
Meanwhile, melt the rest of the butter and oil in a frying pan and sauté the mushrooms briskly so they get a really good colour.
Allow their juices to evaporate.
Season.
Add them to the chicken about 15 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:
Check for seasoning, scatter on the parsley and serve immediately.
One of those dishes that turns out better than you anticipate. A few dried wild mushrooms, a bag of carrots, some chicken thighs and a dash of cream. Simple ingredients that aren’t that expensive. But you end up with a bosky, luxurious panful.
As an Irish girl I love spring onions (we call them scallions), as our beloved ‘champ’ contains nothing more than mashed potatoes, butter and chopped scallions cooked in milk. A sandwich of white bread, butter and chopped spring onions was a favourite childhood snack. But I had never cooked any other dish in which they were dominant. Until this. It’s spring-like, with a lovely muted oniony flavour. You can add peas (fresh or frozen, just stir them in towards the end of cooking) and shredded soft lettuce is good, too, just wilting a little in the heat. It’s a light, simple sauté, but doesn’t seem at all old-fashioned.
8largeskin-on bone-in chicken thighsor a mixture of joints
400g14oz baby waxy potatoes (no need to peel)
10g¼oz unsalted butter
½tbspolive oil
salt and pepper
450g1lb spring onions, roughly chopped
200ml7fl oz dry vermouth
3–4 tbsp chicken stock or water
5tbspcrème fraîche or double cream
1tbspchopped chervil leavesor parsley leaves, though aniseedy chervil is perfect here
Instructies
Trim the skin from the chicken thighs so that there are no ragged bits.
If the potatoes are any bigger than a walnut, cut them in half.
In a shallow broad pan (such as a sauté pan, something that will hold all the chicken pieces in a single layer) heat the butter and olive oil, season the chicken and brown it over a medium heat until coloured on all sides.
You are not trying to cook the chicken through, just colour it.
Lift the chicken joints out and put them in a bowl.
Pour off all but 3 tbsp of the fat from the pan.
Add 400g (14oz) of the spring onions and cook over a medium heat until they are glossy.
Add the vermouth and stock or water and bring to the boil, scraping up all the bits that have stuck to the pan.
Put the potatoes into the pan and reduce the heat to medium.
Return the chicken, with its juices, cover and cook at a gentle simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove the lid and cook for another 20 minutes.
The liquid will reduce and the chicken cook right through (you can check by piercing the flesh near the bone with a the tip of a sharp knife; there should be no trace of pink).
If you have a lot of liquid left, then remove the chicken and boil the juices to reduce them, but you should have just about enough to give everyone some chicken and a spoonful or two of juice.
Stir in the crème fraîche and the rest of the spring onions.
Heat through for a couple of minutes, then scatter the chervil on top and serve.
Chicken with shaoxing wine, crisp radishes and pickled ginger
A dish that highlights the importance of texture. The sweet chicken is very good against the clean crunch of the radishes and daikon but – to really appreciate it – you should soak the cut radishes in iced water, as that really firms them up. Use Amontillado sherry if you don’t have Shaoxing wine and feel free to add sliced chillies at the same time as the ginger and garlic, if you want some heat as well.
50g1¾oz pickled ginger (pink or beige, though pink looks better)
2tspblack or white sesame seeds
about 2 tbsp micro leavesif available (purple amaranth, cress or pea shoots)
FOR THE MARINADE
3tbspdark soy sauce
3tbspShaoxing wine
2garlic clovescrushed
pepper
Instructies
Cut the chicken thighs into chunks (about 2.
5cm/1in square) and put into a bowl with the marinade ingredients.
Mix everything together, cover with cling film and put in the fridge to marinate for two hours if you have time, 30 minutes if you’re pushed.
Bring to room temperature before cooking.
Peel the daikon and cut it into thin batons.
Trim the radishes and slice them lengthways.
Drop these into a bowl of ice cubes and water and leave to crisp up.
Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a wok or sauté pan until it’s really hot, then brown the chicken in three batches, removing the browned chicken as it’s ready and putting it into a bowl.
It’s really important to get a good colour on the chicken.
Add the rest of the oil to the pan, heat it, then add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry until the garlic is pale gold.
Deglaze the wok or pan with the Shaoxing wine, then return the browned chicken.
Season generously with pepper.
Cook for another four minutes, stirring from time to time, then add the soy sauce, honey and 75ml (2½fl oz) of water and cook for another four minutes, tossing the contents of the pan around, until you have enough liquid to just coat the chicken and the chicken is cooked through.
Add the lime juice and taste for seasoning.
Put the chicken into a warmed broad, shallow serving bowl.
Drain the daikon and radish and quickly pat dry in a clean tea towel.
Throw these over the chicken with the spring onions, picked ginger and sesame seeds.
Serve immediately, sprinkled with the micro leaves (if using).
