Soy chicken thighs and egg fried rice

Soy chicken and egg fried rice

Another recipe based on one from Nigel Slater, again from his book Eat.

I've yet to find the recipe online but when I do I'll include a link. In the meantime, here is my version.

Soy chicken thigh ingredients

• About 150ml oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried chillies
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar
• 4 chicken thighs

 

How to make soy chicken thighs

1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees C
2. Mix all the ingredients except the chicken together in a shallow, ovenproof dish.
3. Add the chicken thighs and toss to coat.
4. Put in the oven for about 40 minutes, basting every 10 minutes or so. 

In the meantime, make the egg fried rice.
You need to use rice that has already been cooked and then cooled for egg fried rice, otherwise it will be soggy. I normally make double the quantity of rice for dinner the day before, then immediately cool the rice I don't use by running under a cold tap and leaving to drain, before storing in a tupperware container in the fridge till the next day.

As a rule, measure out dry rice by volume, not weight - about 75g per person will give you a greedy person's amount. 

Egg fried rice ingredients (enough for 2)

• 2 portions long-grain or Basmati rice
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten in a jug.
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 rashers smoked back bacon, or 3 rashers smoked streaky bacon, cut into small pieces
• A large handful frozen peas
• 3 spring onions, finely chopped
• Soy sauce, to colour and taste

How to make egg fried rice

1. Heat some groundnut or other flavourless oil in a wok.
2. When it is very hot, add the chopped onion and cook till it starts to brown.
3. Add the chopped bacon and cook, tossing it around the wok.
4. Add the cooked rice and toss to coat with the oil and mix with the onion and bacon.
5. Once the rice has heated through, add the eggs to the pan with the spring onions.
6. Leave unstirred for about 10 seconds, then stir the eggs around with the other ingredients in the wok to coat.
7. Once the egg has cooked, remove from the heat.
8. Add a splash of soy sauce and stir again, so that all the rice turns brown.*

*For this recipe I didn't add any soy sauce as there was plenty of cooking sauce from the chicken which I used insterad.

Salad Club IV: salad nicoise

Kate, Erik,  Peggy

I'm convinced that the reason so many people are missing from this week's salad club is that its a shit salad: tuna nicoise. Although I like every ingredient individually, there is just something about combining them all on one plate that makes me depressed and think of Torquay. Perhaps it once featured in an episode of Fawlty Towers?

Due to drop-outs (going to Amsterdam on business, on holiday in the Caymen Islands, kidney infection, yada yada), myself and Kate (Director of Salad Communications) are stepping up to cover the shortfall.

Salad nicoise ingredients 

• 750g baby new potatoes - cooked, then dressed when hot with a good lug of olive oil and some grated lemon rind
• A lot of green beans (Kate to supply details of exact amount)
• A large tub black olives - we used Kalamata olives which were a little on the salty side but good nonetheless 
• 2 packs cherry tomatoes
• Some salad leaves
• Anchovies - as many as you want, or don't want as the case may be (I hate anchovies)
• 1 boiled egg per person. The eggs were done to perfection by Kate. She boiled them for 2 minutes then took them off the heat and left them in the water, I think.
• 3 tins tuna steak in brine 
• I portion lemon dressing

Lemon dressing for salad nicoise ingredients

• About 10 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• About 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• Juice 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• Salt, 2 large pinches
• A good grinding of black pepper
• 2 small garlic cloves, crushed, but unpeeled

Oh, and by the way, I am a convert: this salad was delicious.