One-pot Chinese chicken and rice – an easy and flavourful recipe that’s going to become your new family favourite!
I woke up today full of plans to cook and photograph several recipes – my one resolution this year was to be more organised.
Well, this was very ambitious – and a little bit foolish – since today was quite possibly the dullest, darkest day ever. The sun didn’t stand a chance against the grey clouds and persistent rain. And my camera was practically laughing and pointing – ‘you want to photograph three recipes? Today? Ha!’
One of the recipes didn’t turn out well just to spite me – it was a meatloaf recipe that tasted delicious but looked simply awful.
The cake was a similar story – tasted amazing but the glaze technique I was trying is tricky and it didn’t quite work. Hoping to salvage it tomorrow though – it is a GOOD cake!
The last recipe was made out of necessity – I had chicken thighs that had to be cooked today. It wasn’t meant to be a blogpost.
But in desperation to salvage something out of my ambition I decided to photograph it anyway – using artificial lights.
It was simply too delicious to ignore and so easy – the kids surprised me by loving it and they are very hard to please.
I don’t often cook with chicken thighs that aren’t skinless and de-boned, but I must admit they taste a million times tastier.
Do remove some of the skin if there’s a lot and also some of the fat if the chicken is fatty. The marinade will make the chicken super-flavourful and the slow cooking very moist and tender.
I used my Le Crueset lidded shallow casserole for this which is perfect for one-pot meals.
- For the chicken
- 8 chicken thighs skin on, bones in
- 4 tbsp oyster sauce
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp runny honey
- 2 large garlic cloves minced in a garlic press
- 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
- 1 red chilli deseeded and finely chopped
- salt and freshly ground pepper to season
- 1 tbsp rapeseed canola oil to fry
- –––
- 200 g | 7oz brown basmati and wild rice
- 500 ml | 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 large shallots peeled and finely diced
- 1/2 red bell pepper finely diced
- 1/2 yellow bell pepper finely diced
- 4 green onions scallions sliced thinly to garnish
- 1 tbsp butter + 1 tbsp rapeseed canola oil to fry
- Put the chicken and all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl or large roasting bag and toss together. Leave to marinate for 2-3 hours or even overnight in the fridge (covered).
- Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).
- Remove the chicken from the marinade shaking most of it off. Reserve the marinade.
- Heat the oil in a large lidded casserole dish. Pan fry the chicken, skin side down first, over medium-high heat for a couple of minutes until golden. Turn over and cook for two more minutes on the other side and set aside. Wipe the pan clean.
- Heat the butter and oil and sweat the shallots for 7 minutes.
- Add the rice and peppers and stir to coat in the butter/oil. Add the reserved marinade and stock and bring to a simmer.
- Place the chicken over the rice and cover the casserole. Cook for 45-50 minutes or until the rice is cooked.
- Serve sprinkled with the chopped spring onions.
You can use white basmati rice or long grain rice but you might need to cook it for slightly less time.
Elizabeth says
My goodness that looks so, so very good! My kind of comfort food dish, this! Yum!
laura@howtocookgoodfood says
The lighting can be so bad at this time of the year, and such short days too but I am pleased you managed to create this gorgeous chicken dish which is looking just prefect. The colours definitely brighten up these cold winter days!
Lucy Parissi says
I can see signs of spring finally! Won’t be long I will be complaining it is too bright 😉
Emma @ Supper in the Suburbs says
I hate it when a plan falls apart but at least this delicious recipe came out of it! It looks delicious and full of sunny, vibrant flavours to beat away those grey skies!
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
This looks right up my street. I love anything that conbines soy sauce and honey is good with me.
Elizabeth says
My goodness this looks fantastic! I’m going to have to try this recipe out on my family and see what they think.
Lucy Parissi says
I am sure they would love it Elizabeth!
Karly says
This one makes up for any of those struggles– looks AMAZING! Perfect for weeknight family dinners. Can’t wait to try it out!
Bethany @ athletic avocado says
Ahhh doesn’t it stink when recipes taste good but they don’t look good? I feel your pain! But at least you made a delicious dinner with these chicken thighs! Love that only one pot is need to make this crowd-pleasing din din!
Lucy Parissi says
Meatloaf is notoriously tricky… But I will keep trying!
Julia Frey says
Sorry to hear of all the failed plans but it looks you still came out as a winner with this chicken and rice dish! I just love how vibrant and cheery it looks, a great remedy on a day like today! The rest of us had to battle the tube strike in the rain, I would’ve been so happy to come home to this dinner!
Lucy Parissi says
Yesterday was full-on depressing. Much prefer really cold weather that’s dry and bright. I can only sympathise about the tube – I am so thrilled not to have to battle the commute every day… at least for now.