Lightning. Meteorological phenomenon? Or the perfect metaphor for this chicken & rice dish? When the midday hunger pangs strike without warning and you’re at home cooking for yourself (as I usually am), this lightning-fast chicken & rice is the perfect answer to your lunchtime cravings.
Just quickly chop up a few ingredients, take out some leftover cooked rice, and have this in a big bowl in a few short minutes. What really makes this chicken rice special is the addition of the scallion and ginger, which really compliments the chicken, as you can see in this recipe for Poached Chicken w/ Ginger Scallion Oil.
Here, you get a similar flavor much faster. And the best part is: no chopsticks needed. You have permission to just dig in with a spoon. We did.
Recipe Instructions
Have all your ingredients ready before you start, because dish really is fast. Once you get going, you want everything ready to get dropped into the pan.
Sarah barely had time to take pictures before this dish was done!
Heat your wok over medium high heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Add the chicken to the pan, and let it get a good sear on one side (don’t mix). Continue browning for about 2 minutes, take it out of the pan, and set aside.
Add the other tablespoon of oil to the wok and add the scallion and ginger. Cook for thirty seconds and add the carrot and shiitake mushrooms.
If using fresh peas, add them along with the carrots and mushrooms. If using frozen, cook the carrot and mushrooms until they begin to soften (2 minutes) and then add the peas.
Once the vegetables are all relatively tender (about 3 minutes total), add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, shaoxing wine, and chicken stock.
Bring to a boil and allow everything to bubble up for another 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the liquid is reduced by half. Taste the sauce and season with salt and white pepper to taste.
Turn the heat down to low and stir in the cooked white rice and chicken, making sure everything is well combined. Serve!
Lightning Lunchtime Chicken & Rice
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 chicken thighs (cut into small chunks)
- 1 scallion (chopped, both white and green parts)
- 1-2 teaspoons ginger (minced)
- 1 carrot (chopped)
- 3-5 shiitake mushrooms (chopped)
- 2/3 cup peas (fresh or frozen)
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine (or other rice wine)
- 1 cup chicken stock
- salt and white pepper (to taste)
- 3 cups cooked white rice
Instructions
- Heat your wok over medium high heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Add the chicken to the pan and let it get a good sear on one side (just let it cook. Don't mix until it's browned). Continue to brown the chicken for about 2 minutes, take it out of the pan, and set aside.
- Add the other tablespoon of oil to the wok and add the scallion and ginger. Cook for thirty seconds and add the carrot and mushrooms. If using fresh peas, add them along with the carrots and mushrooms. If using frozen, cook the carrot and mushrooms until they begin to soften (2 minutes) and then add the peas.
- Once the vegetables are all relatively tender (about 3 minutes total), add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, wine, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and allow everything to bubble up for another 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until the liquid is reduced by half. Taste the sauce and season with salt and white pepper to taste.
- Turn the heat to low and stir in the cooked rice and chicken, making sure everything is well combined. Serve!
This should be listed under techniques rather than recipes.
Winner!
Look at the ingredient list and you’ll note that this recipe is substitute friendly.
Don’t want to use oyster sauce, how about black bean sauce instead.
No chicken stock handy, use some chicken bullion.
Out of shaoxing wine, add a teaspoon of 100 proof Old Old Forester whiskey.
Select the ingredients – use what you have on hand, so many possibilities.
Follow the simple procedure.
You have an awesome and quick lunch / anytime meal.
Thanks Folks.
What a great comment! Thank you so much.
Hello Judy,
Yes, I really did make the recipe, however, I am out of green onions and the prescribed mushrooms – just don’t like shiitake mushrooms.
This one really is substitute friendly. With the ability to control the sauce, I could use this with macaroni or spaghetti, or rice noodles if I don’t want to make rice or don’t have any left over rice.
It went together quickly and easily. I actually started making it without reading the directions ahead of time.
As I was getting into step three …….. I’m thinking this is almost soup then I read step three which required reducing and thought to myself….this aint gonna work.
So I did the stir a bit – stir a bit routine and watch for a couple of minutes and the sauce thickened nicely. The finished dish impressed me.
And this is one really worth keeping on standby.
Lastly, here is a giant thank you and your crew for all the effort with these recipes.
Thank you for your kind words, much appreciated :-)
You do not say when to add the chicken back in !
You are so right, Adel, the more detailed directions are in the body of the post, but did not make it into the printable recipe. We will update it. Thank you so much for pointing it out.
When do you add the chicken back in, with the rice? Thanks.
Hi Lee, it’s one of our earlier posts, so it’s pretty sloppy (we were still rookie bloggers at the time). I just updated the post. You add the chicken along with the rice, and the timing is right because these chicken is already cooked. Thank you for pointing it out.
Made this for dinner. It was amazingg…!!! Thank you for sharing
Awesome! And it was easy, wasn’t it?
Kakagawa ko lang with leftover shrimp from sinigang na hipon… tara lets eat!
Everything on this site looks so delicious…as I sit here crying and eating my cheap crackers…(bad move to surf the site during lunch break, I’m thinking)
Oh! Karo, you poor thing! Hope you got some ideas to cook something yummy for yourself for dinner. (BTW, thank you for leaving us a note.)
As a matter of fact I’ve gotten several ideas! Thank YOU for sharing all these great recipes! :D (I made the classic pork fried rice last night–it was divine.)
NICEEEEE!!!
I am making this tonight.
Thanks for commenting Annie! Hope it turns out well.
Can you use chicken breast?
Yup!