Ingredients
Three large chicken breasts, approx. 400g in total, (defrost if frozen)
One onion, chopped
Red pepper, chopped
Soy sauce (I use light soy, but the choice is yours)
Sunflower or olive oil
160g Basmati rice
Two big pinches of Chinese 5 Spice
Small scattering of chilli flakes
Salt.
Method
- Cut the chicken breasts into strips, cutting across the breast, put in a bowl and pour over enough soy sauce to colour the meat and have a bit ponding in the bottom of the bowl. Sprinkle Chinese 5 Spice over the chicken and leave.
- Chop the onion and slice the red pepper.
- Switch on the kettle to boil water for the rice.
- Heat up around 2tbsp of the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and pepper, stir frequently and when they start to soften, remove from the pan and keep on one side.
- Meanwhile, start cooking the rice. Tip about 1.5 litres of boiled water from the kettle into your saucepan, (it saves time) and bring back to a rolling boil. At that point, tip in the basmati rice, bring back to the boil and simmer on a medium heat for 13 minutes exactly. No stirring, just leave it while you get on doing the rest of the meal.
- Turn up the heat under the frying pan. Tip in the chicken and the soy sauce from the bowl. Stir quickly to stop it burning, then once the meat starts to colour, turn down the heat to a low setting. Tip the onion and pepper back into the pan, add a sprinkle of chilli flakes, put on the pan lid and simmer while the rice cooks in the other pan. Stir occasionally. Add salt to taste and ensure the mixture doesn’t dry out.
- Once the rice is ready, drain it into a colander or sieve and pour half a kettle of hot water (boiled but not boiling) over the rice. Leave the rice to drain for a minute or two then return it to the rice pan. Put the lid back on to keep the heat in.
- Check the frying pan. The chicken should be cooked through.
- Serve in shallow bowls, rice first with chicken on top.
