Tag Archives: rice bowl

Vietnamese Pepper Chicken Rice Bowl

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I love THE FRESH BRIGHT FLAVOUR OF A RICE BOWL LIKE THIS! THE ADDED BONUS IS THAT IT ALL COMES TOGETHER VERY QUICKLY AND IS AS VERSATILE AS WHATEVER YOU HAVE ON HAND.

Today’s version included some stir fried vegetables to make it a one bowl dinner, and some quick pickled peppers.
  • 4 chicken thigh fillets
  • 180g (6.3 oz) dried rice vermicelli noodles 
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil 
  • 100g (3.5 oz) baby spinach leaves 
  • sliced cucumber, to serve 
  • finely julienned carrot, to serve 
  • ¼ cup roasted peanuts, crushed or finely chopped 
  • roughly torn mint leaves, to serve 
  • Marinade: 
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce 
  • 1 garlic clove, finely grated 
  • 1 tsp sugar 
  • ½ tsp ground black pepper 
  • Nuoc cham dressing: 
  • 3 tbsp fish sauce 
  • 3 tbsp sugar 
  • 2 tbsp white vinegar 
  • 2 tbsp lime juice 
  • 1 long red chilli, finely chopped (or a pinch of chili flakes to taste)
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 

Garnish with toasted sesame seeds, toasted peanuts, slivered green onions, and if you have them cilantro & herbs.

STEP 1
In a large bowl, combine the chicken fillets with the marinade ingredients. Set aside to marinate while you prepare the remaining ingredients. 

STEP 2
For the nuoc cham dressing, place the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until well combined. Set aside for later. 

STEP 3
Cook the noodles in boiling water for 2-3 minutes or until just cooked. Drain and rinse until cool. Divide among serving bowls. 

STEP 4
Heat the oil on a large grill plate or in a frying pan over high heat. Add the chicken fillets and cook 3-4 minutes on the first side or until lovely and golden. Turn the fillets over and reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from heat and slice the chicken. 

STEP 5
To serve, arrange the baby spinach, cucumber and carrot on top of the noodles. Top with chicken slices. Spoon over a generous amount of the nuoc cham dressing. Top with the crushed peanuts and mint leaves and serve. 

For such a simple marinade, this chicken was very tasty! Fish sauce is a real flavour booster.

I’ve adapted the recipe here according to what I had at home, and we felt more like rice than rice noodles tonight. Honestly, we struggle with rice noodles after our trip through Vietnam and Cambodia, the noodles here at home just never taste as fresh and tender. We were in Cambodia, at the Kampot Pepper plantation and I keep finding ways to use that fabulous pepper.

This recipe is exactly as written from Marion Grasby of Marion’s Kitchen. If you haven’t followed her yet on Instagram or Youtube, you are missing out. She is amazing to watch, and every recipe is on point! Thank you Marion!

Asian Chicken Mushroom Bowls with Peanut Sauce

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So unlike me, but every so often I’m looking for a quick and easy dinner!  This hits all the notes with a delicious sauce, crunchy vegetables and the bright hit of those pickled vegetables – don’t skip them!

DD Chicken 5

INGREDIENTS: 

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • 1 pound ground chicken
  • 1 (3.5-ounce) package shiitake mushrooms, diced
  • 1 carrot, peeled and diced
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
  • 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
  • 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1 head butter lettuce

or

  • stir fried vegetables
  • cooked rice

FOR THE PEANUT SAUCE

  • 3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
  • 1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce, or more, to taste
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

QUICK PICKLED VEGETABLES

  • thinly sliced cucumbers & radishes
  • salt
  • vinegar (use what you have on hand, either white vinegar or rice wine vinegar

Thinly slice vegetables and place in non-reactive bowl.  Sprinkle with a little salt and then just cover with vinegar.  Set aside.

DIRECTIONS:

  1. To make the peanut sauce, whisk together peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, chili garlic sauce and ginger in a small bowl. Whisk in 2-3 tablespoons water until desired consistency is reached; set aside.
  2. Heat vegetable oil and sesame oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add ground chicken, mushrooms, carrot and shallot. Cook until browned, about 5-7 minutes, making sure to crumble the chicken as it cooks; drain excess fat.
  3. Stir in garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  4. Stir in hoisin sauce, chili garlic sauce and fish sauce until heated through, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro.
  5. To serve, spoon several tablespoons of the chicken mixture into the center of a lettuce leaf, taco-style, drizzled with peanut sauce.

I’ve adapted (translate copied, but give credit where it is due!) this to a rice bowl from a Damn Delicious recipe for lettuce wraps …. if you haven’t been over to her site, treat yourself and go review a few recipes.   Needless to say we didn’t use carrots as Grant HATES cooked carrots so we just ignored that portion altogether.  Use whatever vegetables you have on hand to supplement the chicken mixture to create a colourful, delicious bowl.

DD chicken 2

Get everything ready to go, this all comes together so quickly.

DD chicken 3

Brown the chicken, mushrooms, onions, garlic and ginger, then stir in the sauce.

DD Chicken 6

Today’s vegetables were crunchy and delicious – use whatever you have on hand

 

DD Chicken 4

This takes only a few minutes to come together, so have your vegetables ready to go, and your rice cooked so you can put it all in your bowl within 20-30 minutes.

DD chicken 1

The leftovers are amazing in these fresh, soft pita’s I made.