Ginger Chicken, Pak Choi & Rice

📝 Ingredients

• 300 g jasmine rice (uncooked weight)
• 600 g chicken breast
• 3 pak choi (about 200 g each)
• 2 carrots (about 100 g each)
• 3 garlic cloves + 30 g fresh ginger
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce + 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp cornflour + 120 ml cold water
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 spring onions
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds (about 15 g)

🍴 Utensils

• Saucepan with lid
• Wok or large frying pan
• Colander
• Fine grater
• 4 airtight containers
• Cutting board and knife

📖 Steps

1. Rinse the rice in a sieve under cold water until the water runs almost clear. Put it in a saucepan with 450 ml water, bring to the boil, cover and cook for 12 minutes over very low heat. Leave to rest, covered and off the heat, for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cut the chicken into thin 5 mm strips. Peel the carrots and cut into thin batons. Trim the base of the pak choi, wash the leaves and separate the white stalks, cut into pieces, from the green leaves.
3. Peel and finely grate the garlic and ginger. Slice the spring onions, keeping the white and green parts separate. In a bowl, mix the oyster sauce, soy sauce, cornflour and cold water until the cornflour has dissolved.
4. Dry-toast the sesame seeds in the wok for 2 minutes over medium heat, stirring, until lightly golden and nutty-smelling. Tip them straight onto a plate: left in the hot wok, they would keep browning.
5. Heat 1 tbsp sunflower oil in the wok over high heat. Sear the chicken in two batches, 3 to 4 minutes each, without stirring too much, until golden and white all the way through: too much meat at once would make it stew instead of brown. Set aside.
6. Lower to medium heat, add the rest of the sunflower oil, the carrots, garlic, ginger and the white parts of the spring onions. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, stirring constantly: the garlic should turn golden, not brown, or it becomes bitter.
7. Add the pak choi stalks with 2 tbsp water and cook for 2 minutes, then the green leaves for 1 minute, just until they wilt. The stalks should stay slightly crunchy, as the dish will be reheated.
8. Return the chicken to the wok. Stir the sauce (the cornflour settles at the bottom of the bowl) and pour it in. Let it bubble for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring, until it thickens and coats the meat. Drizzle with sesame oil off the heat.
9. Divide the rice and stir-fry between the 4 containers, then sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds and the green parts of the spring onions. Leave to cool slightly, uncovered, then close the containers and keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.