This is one of those quick weeknight meals we eat quite often, and I’ve tried for quite a while to turn this into a ‘proper’ recipe; one with grams and minutes and a detailed method, and I’ve finally decided that it’s really the sort of recipe that just wants to be a bit flexible and loose.  Not quite as much as those medieval recipes that start by asking you to ‘catch ye a good siezed hare’ or something like that, but still a bit more of a narrative than a proscriptive list…

So, for our family of four I use two large chicken breasts, sliced up and marinated (for anything from half an hour to overnight depending how long you have) with a couple of cloves of garlic and a thumb sized piece of ginger, both roughly chopped, and a splash each of soy sauce and Chinese rice wine.

When we’re ready to eat, I put three cups (the sort that come with the rice cooker) of rice in the cooker with the amount of water the machine asks for.  I use chicken stock as part of the liquid if I have any, and if not I add one teaspoon of stock powder.  The marinated chicken is added on top along with the rest of the marinade, and then I turn the machine on.  Near the end of the cycle, I add chopped quick cooking greens such as broccolini, bok choy, gai laan etc.

If it’s a really hectic evening we just eat with extra soy, but it’s quite easy while the rice and chicken are cooking to make a wonderful sauce by heating a few tablespoons of peanut oil until it just starts smoking, and then pouring it over finely sliced extra ginger and spring onions.  Add salt to taste and drizzle over your chicken, rice and greens.

So what do you think about recipes that provide detailed information compared to those that just give an outline?  And do you like making your own variations, or do you want to make something exactly like the original recipe?