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Panang chicken is a super way to use up that garden zucchini. Included is a great method for cooking perfect rice to fry.
Odds And Ends Chicken Stir Fry
If you’re looking to use up odds and ends you have in the fridge when there’s not enough to go around for everyone, consider this tasty stir fry.
This is also great if you have a bumper crop of zucchini (courgettes) from the garden. The zucchini gives this meal an interesting flavor.
Leftover chicken can also be used here. I used fresh, but leftover cooked chicken breast can work equally as well.
Actually any combination of veggies will work in this. Reason is it’s the spices that give Panang chicken is great flavor.
Cooking Perfect Rice: Non-Stick Rice
One of the best tips I picked up from Mary Berry is how to cook non-stick rice. Done this way, you will cook perfect rice every time you want fried rice or it’s included in a stir fry.
I think we all know that cold rice is the key to making any fried rice crispy, but it still remains sticky. I’ve always had that problem no matter what I do. I’ve rinsed and rinsed pre-cooking to no avail. Also did the “no touch” until the water was completely absorbed…you name it, I did it. However, the rice was always sticky.
The way the rice is cooked here is the thing that works. It’s simple; you cook it as you would pasta–in a large amount of water. When it’s tender, you drain it in a strainer then rinse it thoroughly in cold water. Voila–the rice is cool enough to use and it’s not at all sticky!
Chili Sauce
Since I adapted this from a European recipe, what they call “chili sauce” was a bit of a mystery to me. My sister couldn’t help me since she’s not into spicy foods at all and doesn’t have a clue. So I relied on Google images for my clue–it may not be authentic but I got the idea.
I thought that this wasn’t what we in the States call chili sauce–you know the sweet Heinz stuff (but I could be wrong so let your individual tastes decide). So I opted for either Thai chili sauce and/or chili garlic sauce. These are the kind that are pourable not the paste kind. They’re also a bit on the hot side so use a bit of caution. It might taste good with American-style chili sauce too so if you’re not too adventurous when it comes to hotsy totsy, you might want to stick with that. If all else fails, I’d just chop up a medium-heat chili pepper and use that.
The Recipe
Panang Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 2 chicken breasts cut into very thin strips
- 1 tbs honey
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 1 zucchini/courgette finely chopped
- 1 red pepper finely chopped
- 2 sticks celery finely chopped
- 2 tsp grated ginger
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 tbs curry powder
- 1 cup uncooked rice
- 3 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tbs sweet chili sauce
- ½ lime juice only
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and cook the rice (about 10–12 minutes). Drain well, rinse and set aside to cool completely.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan, season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Drizzle with the honey and fry quickly over a high heat for a few minutes until golden and just cooked. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add the onion, zucchini, red pepper and celery to the pan. Fry for 4–5 minutes, stirring. Stir in the ginger, garlic and curry powder and fry for another minute. Add the cooled rice, soy sauce, chlli sauce and lime juice. Toss and season with little salt and pepper. Return the chicken to the pan and heat through.
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