If you’re looking for a delicious and impressive meal, try this chicken breast stuffed with sticky rice.
The Key To Cooking Chicken Breast
I know I’m in the minority, but I’m not a fan of chicken breast. My preference is for dark meat, which is unlike the vast majority of Americans. Overall, it has more flavor and is less dry. A chicken breast is much more forgiving than a chicken thigh or drumstick when it comes to cooking mistakes.
However, a simple chicken breast can become a culinary star with the proper preparation. The secret is to ensure that it stays damp. One technique is to cook the chicken breast in a heated pan for a short time, just enough to give it a nice sear and finish cooking it through. This locks in the flavor and is perfect for topping salads or pasta with thin slices. The chicken can also be sliced thinly and quickly seared in a stir-fry setting (in less than a minute).
These are in abundance here.
The last thing I can think of to avoid the dry chicken breast that everyone dislikes so much?
Suppressing negative feelings.
Example: a chicken breast stuffed with sticky rice
Isn’t it a lovely sight to behold? Not dry.
For consistently delicious results, I find that butterflying the chicken breast, stuffing it, quickly searing it in a pan to seal in the juices, and then finishing it off in the oven is the best method. Sticky rice stuffing with bacon, mushrooms, and lots of scallions was what I settled on.
Besides salt and pepper, I also seasoned the chicken breast with sand ginger powder. This component is not required but highly recommended if available. It enhances the overall flavor of the stuffed chicken breast.
Now, I’ll show you how to put it together!
Ingredients:
- 4 slices of bacon (chopped)
- 8 oz. of cremini or shiitake mushrooms (roughly chopped)
- 3 pcs. of scallions (chopped)
- 2 cups of cooked sticky rice (glutinous or sweet rice)
- 2 tsp. of light soy sauce
- 1 ½ tsp. of dark soy sauce
- ½ tsp. of sesame oil
- 1/8 tsp. of five spice powder
- 4 pcs. of boneless skinless chicken breasts (butterflied)
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tsp. of sand ginger powder (or galangal powder – optional)
- 2 tbsp. of vegetable oil
Instructions:
- Fry the chopped bacon in a wok over high heat until it is crispy and some of the fat has rendered out about 5 minutes. Sauté the mushrooms until they are caramelized, then add them.
- The scallions should be mixed in at this point. Drop into a bowl with the sticky rice. Mix five spice powder, light soy sauce, and dark soy sauce in the toasted sesame oil. Whisk together thoroughly.
- Raise the oven’s temperature to 350 degrees F. Season your chicken breasts, which you have already butterflied, with salt and pepper. If you’re using ginger powder, sprinkle it on top.
- Butterflied chicken breasts should be filled with the sticky rice mixture, folded over to seal, and then held together with toothpicks.
- Put the vegetable oil in a cast-iron frying pan and heat it over medium-high heat. Blacken the chicken breasts on both sides (about 2 minutes per side). Deglaze the pan by adding a couple of tablespoons of hot water and circling the liquid around the bottom.
- Roast the chicken for 15 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees. Serve!