I don’t think my children have ever had actual Chinese take-out, maybe Japanese Hibachi a few times? But Asian Chicken and Fried Rice is one of their absolute favorites! This is one of the most requested dinners and pleases everyone, every time! The ingredient list can change slightly from time to time but the staples remain the same. This isn’t a complicated recipe and a good one for ‘winging’ since that’s how I role in the kitchen.
On this particular night the veggies I had on hand were broccoli, red peppers, scallions, and asparagus. I’ve have used a wide variety based on seasonal as well just what I had on hand at the time. I also used boneless chicken thighs this evening, but often times use boneless skinless chicken breasts.
This is however one of the more time consuming recipes as you have several steps – I recommend preparing the rice first because if worse comes to worse you can pop it in the microwave to heat it up. If you know you will be in a time crunch you can either make the rice ahead of time and turn it into fried rice later or make the entire recipe ahead of time – it is great left over, however we usually don’t have any 🙁 I should also invest in some kind of wok type pan but for now I use what I have…my stove top griddle and large saute pan.
You would really have to do something crazy wrong to mess this up – the flavors are simple classic Asian and pair well together. I start the rice while I mix the marinade for the chicken up and let it sit while the cut the chicken into strips then I pour it over the chicken and mix it up – I do this ahead of time if I know we are going to have a rush during the dinner hour. Then it’s on to chopping the veggies and tossing them into the saute pan – I start the onion and garlic first then throw the rest in – I add a dash of olive oil to the pan and a little water so it’s a part steam, part saute.
I then put the veggies to the side while I add the rice to the pan to start making it crispy. I add a touch of olive oil to the bottom then dump the rice on top and pat it down to cover the pan and keep the pan on high…after a few minutes I scrape it off the bottom and flip it over – I repeat this process several times before adding soy sauce – CAUTION – since the pan is super hot this creates a lot of steam. I sprinkle the soy sauce over all the rice until it looks like fried rice color – yes that’s the method! I then repeat the crisping process one last time before adding the veggies back in…last step is to scramble the eggs and mix it all together.
Because of the large amount of chicken I cook, I do it in batches – I add a little olive oil to the pan (if using chicken thighs, less is more since they have more fat in them, you don’t want it too greasy) and I cook it on a medium -high-high (yes you read that right- as high as you can without scorching it, the soy sauce will burn on the bottom if it isn’t a non-stick pan). I just sauté it until it is done and place it on the platter until the next back is finished. I add it all to one large platter or bowl depending or serve it from the skillet if we are in a super rush!
I hope your family loves this as much as we do -we had one small thermos full for someone to enjoy the following day for lunch – it wasn’t me ;( – Enjoy!
Asian Chicken
4lbs boneless skinless chicken (thighs or breasts)
1/3 Cup Soy Sauce
1 tsp Sesame Oil
1/2 – 3/4tsp Fresh Ginger
1-2 Fresh Garlic Cloves
Slice chicken into strips or chunks, whatever your prefrence is. Grate ginger and garlic. Mix soy sauce, sesame oil, grated giner and garlice in a small bowl – wisk and pour over chicken strips.
Saute chicken until done. May be marinated over night, but should be marinated at least one hour.
Fried Rice
Rice for 6 people made to package instructions. I always use some type of brown rice.
3 (1/2 cup servings each) different types of fresh chopped veggies:
Broccoli, Asparagus, Snow Peas, Peas, Corn, Spinach, Peppers (red, green, yellow, or orange) – whatever your family loves!
Small bunch of scallions or one small white onion – chopped
2 eggs
2 Chopped Garlic Cloves
A few TBSP of soy sauce
Saute garlic and scallion/onion in pan, add veggies – cook until your done-nesss preference – we like al dente veggies! Press cooked rice into bottom of hot pan to fry for several minutes, scraping and flipping several times. Add soy sauce to rice and repeat the scrape and flip method two more times. Add veggies back to rice. Scramble two eggs and add to rice mixture.
Enjoy!
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