If there is one thing to know about me, it’s that I can whip up a mean chicken and rice dish. Spicy, salty, even sweet, it’s my midweek go-to and is always a total winner in this house.
Of course, I’m not a complacent cook, and there are always new things to learn so when I asked my partner if he had any ideas for how I could jazz up these weekly faves and he said the rice could be a little more flavoursome, I got straight to work.
Then, it clicked. Chicken stock.
Yes, I cook my rice in chicken stock
Whether I’m reaching for chicken stock cubes or some fresh chicken stock from the last time I cooked a whole chicken, it doesn’t matter, the effects are about the same.
First of all, when cooking with stock cubes, I boil some water to dissolve the cubes in and while I’m doing this, I wash my rice. You don’t have to do this but I have found that it cooks more evenly and has a less starchy texture once cooked.
Once my stock is ready, I add the rice. Then, crucially, I ignore it for the entire time it’s cooking. No stirring, no lifting the lid, nothing. I leave it for around 15 minutes and in that time, the rice soaks in the stock beautifully.
If I’m cooking with chicken stock, it’s a little more complicated. First, I fry up whichever vegetables I plan to cook in the stock along with some garlic, ginger and soy sauce.
Then, I skim off any fat before adding rice and cooking for 15 minutes. If it’s particularly thick stock, I add some boiling water.
If I’ve had a particularly tense day, I like to follow Ella Risbridger’s advice and mix a little of the ginger, a little lemon, some garlic and honey in a mug with boiling water and take gentle sips while my meal comes to life.
Delicious.