Chicken Yakitori w/ jasmine rice and sauted veggies, my way

[brian]

This is surely not a "by the book" recipie. In fact, it's probably a far cry from Chicken Yakitori. But, I can't think of any other name for it, and since i used a bit of Yakitori sauce... that's what I'm calling it. If someone has a better name for this meal, I'm all ears.


First get your ingredients out.
Jasmine Rice
-- I like jasmine rice for this dish, as it is VERY light and NOT fluffy. it makes a great "light" tossable rice. Basically, it's the exact oposite of sushi rice.
Chicken of your deisred shape... i like the breast tenderloin cuts for this type of meal
1/2 white onion
1/2-3/4 of a garlic bloom (I LOVE garlic, so you may want to tone this down depending on your taste)
kosher salt
extra virgin olive oil
fresh ground pepercorns
1/2-3/4 bag fresh picked and washed spinach
about 4 white mushrooms
1 red bell pepper
soy sauce
white rice cooking wine
yakitori sauce
capers (non-pariels)

[brian]

Start the rice first. It takes the longest and while it cooks, you have time to prepare your veggies and chicken.

In a medium sauce pan on high, splash the bottom of the pan with some EVOO (extra virgin olive oil).

Add just UNDER 1/2 cup of the Jasmine rice.
toss it around so the oil coats the rice.

Turn your facuet on hot. let the cold water run out. If your hot water heater water tastes like crap, consider running a teapot or microwave some water so that its at least 150*. The idea is to not loose the heat of the rice when you pour the water on it, and turns to a boil in just a minuete.

Once you hear a couple pops, add 1 1/2 cups of the hot water. Don't let it "fry". you just want to get the rice hot and coated with the oil.

once it comes just about to a boil, turn the heat to 2-3 (low) and cover.

[brian]

Now it's time to prepare your veggies.

First, start your pan. in a large stir-fry pan, coat with a generous amount of EVOO and set to 6-7 (med hi)
if your spinach isn't already preparred (mine is, as I washed it all with last nights meal) wash and strain and pick off large stems. set aside.

pop the cloves of garlic out, dice.
dice the onion.
slice the mushrooms.
slice the pepper to desired size. i pictured mine as 'rings' but I cut those rings in 1/4ths before putting in the pan.

When the pan is hot, and it should be by the time you've chopped everything, put all these into the pan. HOLD OFF on the spinach until later. It cooks much faster than these, so we want to introduce it later on.

[brian]

Toss the above around a little bit.
add a pinch of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.
toss a little more.

Start the chicken prep.

Place chicken in a dish (I don't use cutting boards for raw meat, and these are pre-cut anyway. I just need a place to put the tenderloins temporarily to season).
in a saute' pan, heat to 6 (med-med/hi) with just a LITTLE bit of EVOO to coat the pan and avoid sticking.

Add a pinch of kosher salt and fresh pepercorn the chicken.

[brian]

By now, your veggie mix should be about half cooked. When the onions and mushrooms are just starting to turn golden brown on the edges, its time to add the spinach and reduce the heat just a hair.. 1 notch or so should do it.

It looks like a lot of spinach, but once on the heat for a few, it really decreases in volume and the ratio turns out pretty good.

give that a few tosses and get back to the chicken.

[brian]

Your chicken pan is hot now.

this cooks REAL fast, so you need to pay attention. I was rushing trying to keep up and snap pics :D

Season-side down, place the chicken in your saute' pan, largest pieces in the middle, smaller ones on the outside.

Add some capers across the top. The more you add, the more "salty" the dish will be.

hit the pan with about 1/4 cup of cooking wine. It will "foam" up a little, so you need to be fast and get it around the chicken quick. DO NOT pour on the chicken. The object here is to reduce the wine into a starch "wall" around the chicken.

Give your veggies another toss. The spinach should be almost ready at this point, and the rice should be almost out of water.

[brian]

Once the wine disapates to the point where it's not watery any more, flip the chicken. It should be JUST grazed. See the picture.

Once flipped, its time to hit the chicken with a little yakitori sauce and a DASH of soy across the top. When it drips off the chicken and into the wine "foam barrier" it will make cool noises and start to cook real fast.

[brian]

The chicken will be done in about 1-2 min (depending on the thickness of your cut -- be sure its thouroughly cooked to 160*) so it's time to start your plating.

Scoop the rice into a "heap" on 1/5th the plate. Place the sauted veggies ont he remainder of the plate as a "leaf base".
When the chicken is done, place one at a time on the plate over the veggies.

There should be a HINT of reduced sauce in the pan and a couple straggling capers. Using your tongs, drizzle a little bit across the top of the chicken. DO NOT make the plate "saucy" or watery. You simply want the sauce to have a little coloring on top along with the flavoring.

Pour yourself a nice light white wine ( I chose pinot grigio for this dish and mixed very well) and enjoy!

[brian]

ALL THAT FOR ONE PLATE?!?!?!

yup.

I did have a bit of rice left over, and a couple straggling veggies, but for the most part, this is a one-plate recipie. If you're not as hungry as I am, perhaps it could be split into two plates. It starts out looking like a lot of food, but the sauted veggies quickly shrink with the heat.

I enjoyed this dish a lot, and it was the first time I ever made it like this. The light jasmine rice is the kicker. It's non-absorbant like thick/sticky rice, so it doesn't get overwhelmed with the saltyness of the sauce. It makes for a good balance from the slightly slaty tasting chicken from the capers and soy.


So, what's it called? I don't know. But it was dang good :)

[jeff]

we need to come up with a scratch and sniff forum =)