Circle B Kitchen
This cooks up so great if you have one of those rice cookers with the lid that locks down. But no worries if you don't have one, any small Dutch oven kind of pot will work as well.
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
1/3 cup Asian Sauce (see recipe below)
1 1/2 cups jasmine rice (rinsed and drained)
1 1/2 cups stock or water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 slice of fresh ginger (1/4" thickness)
4 scallions, sliced (1/2 for cooking, 1/2 for serving)
1/4 cup chopped, fresh cilantro, optional
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
Combine the chunks of chicken with the 1/3 cup Asian sauce in a medium bowl and refrigerate until ready to cook.
Combine the water or stock, the rice, ginger and salt in a rice cooker or small Dutch oven. Add the chicken and all of the sauce to the top of the rice and scatter 2 sliced scallions over the top.
If using a rice cooker, close the lid and cook for one cycle. The chicken was cooked perfectly in my rice cooker, but if yours isn't, just give it another 5 to 10 minutes.
If cooking it stove-top style, place the pot over medium heat and bring to soft boil and then reduce the heat to low. Make sure the lid is on tight and cook over low heat for about 25 minutes. Remove from the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes before serving.
If desired, drizzle the chicken with a little more of the Asian sauce, the chopped peanuts,a couple more sliced scallions and some chopped fresh cilantro before serving.
My All-Purpose Asian Sauce
The beauty of this sauce is that you can use it to baste salmon shrimp or chicken, dress Asian noodles, use as a dipping sauce or any other application that calls to you. You can substitute the gochujang for another Asian chili paste, but I would recommend you get your hands on some gochujang. The flavors are so amazing.
Makes about 1 cup of sauce
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
1/3 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons (or more) gochujang (Korean Chili sauce)
Combine all of the ingredients and let sit for a few minutes before using.
To make an Asian Peanut Sauce, eliminate the sesame oil and stir in 1/4 cup peanut butter.