Chicken Thighs on the Fly

Several years ago, a good friend and I visited Japan and my culinary world opened up. There is so little cow's milk or any type of dairy in Japanese cuisine that I ate so well, lost 5 pounds and felt better than I had in ages during our adventure. 

I have a couple of cookbooks by Japanese chefs and was so excited to make a recipe I found in one of them for dinner tonight. 

And then, I read the whole recipe. (Mind you, I read the full recipe approximately 30 minutes before I needed to feed my family.) The recipe makes enough for one serving. Dinner tonight needed to feed one adult and two tweens. The instructions specifically said, do not double to triple the recipe because it won't be any good. Dang it. 

So, I winged it. I still microwaved the frozen edamame. I had already made rice in the rice cooker. I had half a cucumber leftover so I sliced half to be eaten fresh and did a quick pickle on the other half. 

I chopped up the chicken thighs and started out y sautéing them in vegetable oil and a bit of sesame oil. Then I added some chicken stock mixed with sugar and salt and a little cornstarch. I simmered it with the lid on for 2-3 minutes and with the lid off for 3-4 minutes more until the sauce thickened a bit. And then we ate. 

The kids loved it and I felt like I saved the day. They both asked to have rice bowls in their lunches tomorrow. 

Chicken Thighs on the Fly

Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 3-4 people

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp sesame or peanut oil
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• pepper to taste
• 3/4 tsp cornstarch or arrow root (add more if necessary)
• cooked rice (1/2 cup per person)

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken to the pan and cook until no longer pink.
2. Mix chicken stock, salt, sugar and cornstarch together and set aside. 
3. Once chicken is mostly cooked, add chicken stock mixture and cover for 2-3 minutes. Then remove cover and let sauce thicken for 3-4 minutes. 
4. Serve chicken over cooked rice with vegetables of your choice and enjoy!

PS - Quick Pickle

Slice a small cucumber (and/or radish and/or carrots) quite thinly and place into a small bowl. Add a 2 :1 ratio of sugar to salt and stir frequently. Pickles will be ready within 30 minutes.

PPS - the chicken is totally served in my favorite gift from my kids! That beautiful bowl was hand crafted and shipped to me for Christmas this year. I love it!