A variation on Gordon Ramsay: Chicken (claypot) rice

For my birthday, one of my friends gave me a Gordon Ramsay cookbook – focusing on East Asian cuisine. This was the perfect present, as I love Oriental cooking but often end up just making the same thing over and over (delicious, but boring)! A lot of the curries look mouthwatering, but take a few hours to simmer and cook – I will save these for a weekend and blog about them when the time comes. In the meantime, here’s his chicken claypot rice recipe, adjusted for the fact that a) I don’t have a clay pot, b) my friend doesn’t eat pork – so no sausages, and c) I wanted more garlic.

It’s surprisingly quick and easy. To me, it tastes like an Asian risotto – without the cheese and with a wonderful fresh zingy ginger taste!

Marinade:

• 2.5 inches ginger, peeled and cut in thin strips (slice one way, then the other)
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp light brown sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ½ tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1 tsp white sugar

Also:

• 600g boneless chicken (mini fillets, breast or thigh), cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 large handfuls dried sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 3.5 cups jasmine or sticky rice
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 medium-sized onions, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1.2 litres chicken stock (I used 1 cube)
• Sriracha (on top)

Mix all marinade ingredients together and add the chicken. Cover and keep for 1-3 hours.

Heat the oil in a large, deep pan and fry the onions and garlic on high heat until light brown. Add the chicken and cook until about 60% done. Add the mushrooms, rice and stock, cover and let simmer on medium heat for around 15 minutes, stirring only once or twice. Taste the rice to make sure it’s done, and then serve with a topping of sriracha!