Okay, this may be my new favorite. My new favorite dinner, my new favorite lunch leftovers, my new favorite anything. There really isn’t much to this dinner. Poached chicken. Steamed Rice. Sliced Cucumbers. And that sauce! Oh I love that sauce!
The star of the dish truly is the dipping sauce. It’s salty, tangy, sweet, and spicy all at once and the plain jane poached chicken and steamed rice really allow the sauce to take the center stage. Let’s be honest, I’m a sucker for any Thai style sauce made with lime, ginger, and soy. But this one, in particular, really won me over. I love a balanced dipping sauce and that is exactly what this is. The tangy lime and salty sauce are its base. Then comes the flavor, a little bit of brown sugar, a little bit of red chilis, and a lot of grated ginger. Oh. Em. Gee. This is perfect. I could put it on just about anything.
Poached chicken can be a little boring. Even though you really want the sauce to take the show with this recipe that doesn’t mean you have to make a lame old poached chicken. To give this chicken a punch of flavor I poached it in chicken stock that I mixed with cilantro stems, pieces of ginger, and the limes I had juiced for the sauce. These little additions really make a big difference in the flavor of the chicken. Do it. Just do it.
This recipe is super simple. Just plain ingredients put together to make something delicious. I first had the idea for this while watching a re-run of Chopped a few weeks ago. One of the chefs spoke about her Thai Chicken and Rice dish (khao man gai) and I knew I had to make something like it. It was a little difficult to track down a recipe and it appears to be one of those dishes that everyone makes just a little bit differently. I would taste the sauce as you go and modify it to suite you tastes… some like it hot, some like it sweet, some like it sour… me I like it anyway!
Okay, puppy picture. I had to. It’s been a while since I put Artie on the blog. And he was so cute begging for a little bit of poached chicken. This poor dog – you would think no one around here fed him with the way that he begs! I mean look at those eyes!
Thai Chicken and Rice Recipe
Ingredients
serves 2
2 chicken breasts
1 bunch fresh cilantro
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup rice
1 cucumber
3 T. soy sauce
1 2-inch piece of ginger root, peeled (save peel) and grated
1 small lime
2 T. brown sugar
2 small red chilis
1 clove garlic
Directions
In a small mixing bowl combine the soy sauce, peeled and grated ginger (save the peels for the broth), juice of the lime (save the lime pieces for the broth), brown sugar, garlic, and chopped red chilis. Mix until the sugar dissolves and set aside.
In a medium stock pot combine the chicken stock, stems of the cilantro (save the leaves for serving), ginger peel, and lime pieces and bring to a rolling boil.
Remove from heat, place chicken breasts in the hot liquid, and cover. Allow to sit for 15-20 minutes or until a thermometer reads 165 degrees F.
While the chicken cooks prepare the rice according to the directions on the package (if you want a more flavorful rice sub in chicken stock for water, 1 t. canola oil, 1 t. sugar, and a pinch of salt) and slice the cucumber into thin slices.
Remove the chicken from the poaching liquid and slice. Serve along side the sauce, cucumbers, and rice then sprinkle with the cilantro leaves.
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