This Little Pig cooks dinner every Monday night without fail. Whatever ends up as dinner is often a direct reflection of this fine swines mental state. If This Little Pig has had a powerful and productive day, the meal is often some delightful gentle roasted meat with caramelised vegetables and lush salads. If this poor piglet has had an atrocious day it will often be an overdone, rubbery steak and an undercooked jacket potato which will then send this porcine further into the dark murky depths of self loathing. This Little Pig’s husband is always very kind but you can notice a dubious face as he pokes at the potato and then quickly slathers it with butter and salt.
This Monday must have been a glorious one however as This Little Pig made such a delightful dinner, out of it’s imagination, that it kept saying “this is sensational if I don’t say so myself” and “oh wow, wow, wow, I’m very good at this aren’t I.” Did I mention a porcine is very modest? It was quick, it was easy and somehow it felt super healthy with the poaching and all the ginger and garlic. So roll up your midweek light woollen knit (it’s getting warmer hooray!) and try out this beautiful ginger chicken broth piglets. It truly is an amazing midweek meal. Oink!
Ingredients of Poaching Perfection:
400g x Chicken Breast (free range)
1 x Cup (180g) Brown Rice
1/2 x Buk Choy Bunch
30g x Ginger
3 x Garlic Cloves
1 x Carrot
1 x Cucumber
1 x Spring Onion Bunch
30g x Mint
30g x Coriander
20g x Garlic Chives
1 x Red Chilli
1 x Tbs Gourmet Stock
Poached Ginger Chicken
Feeds: 2 Hungry Piglets
Prep Time: 10 Mins. Cooking Time: 30 Mins.
Method of Perfect Poaching:
- Fill a pot with cold water and pour in your brown rice (1 cup). Bring to the boil and allow to simmer away until the rice is cooked through (around 25 mins). Once your rice is cooked drain and return to the pot to continue to stay warm and fluffy.
- Fill another pot with 6 cups of water and bring to the boil.
- Skin and finely slice your ginger and garlic and pop your gourmet stock (1 Tbs) and garlic and ginger slices into the pot of boiling water .
- Drop in your chicken breasts (400g) and allow to simmer away for 15-20 mins or until cooked through (you can go buy touch – it’s not very springy – or you can just pull him out and cut him in half to check).
- Slice your cucumber and carrot into thin strips.
- Chop off the roots and finely slice your spring onion into thin coins.
- Finely dice your herbs (chopping off and removing Mr Coriander’s roots and Mr Mint’s stem) and chop off about 3 cm's of Buk Choy's stem and discard.
- Roll your chilli (1) back and forth firmly between your hands like you’re making a play-dough sausage (this releases the seeds). Now chop off his head and bang him upside down yelling “get out chilli seeds” or “I know you’re in there” or whatever until all the chilli seeds fall out.
- Now finely slice the chilli into good looking slices (on the angle is prettiest).
- Once your chicken is poached through, pop your buk choy into the pot for 2 mins or until bright green, still a little crunchy but warmed through.
- Now take off the heat and pull your greens out so they don’t overcook and just pop them on a board or wotnot.
- Making sure to reserve the poaching liquid, take out your chicken and slice into thick slices.
- Just before serving mix your lovely diced herbs through your brown rice.
- On pretty serving plates ladle out your fluffy herbed rice and top with your carrot and cucumber wisps.
- Pop your poached chicken slices on top and then curl on top some of your blanched buk choy.
- Scatter over your spring onion and chilli slices and then ladle out some poaching liquid over the top – try and get some ginger and garlic slices with it.
- Now serve your amazing, ginger poached chicken with a smug grin and a napkin. Oink!
