Ginger Chicken and Rice

This ginger chicken with rice is an easy and quick one-pan dinner that doesn’t require hours of prep or clean up. Serves 4:

2 tablespoons neutral oil
1 3” piece fresh ginger cut into thin slices
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into about 1” pieces
Salt
3 large garlic cloves, minced or grated
2 cups jasmine rice, rinsed with cold water
3 cups chicken broth
¾ pound baby spinach (about 4 packed cups)
2 tablespoons soy sauce, plus more as needed
Juice of 1 lime (or more as needed)
2 scallions (optional), sliced
¼ packed cup cilantro leaves and tender stems (optional), roughly torn or chopped
Sriracha (optional) for serving

In a large Dutch oven or pot with a lid, heat the oil and ginger slices over medium-high until the oil around the ginger starts to sizzle, 1 to 2 minutes, then push the ginger to the side. Season the chicken with salt, then add it to the pan and let cook, undisturbed, until the chicken starts to brown and easily releases from the pan, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and rice and stir until the rice is coated with oil and starts to sizzle, about 1 minute.

Add the stock or water, bring to a boil, stirring to scrape up anything on the bottom of the pot. Cover and immediately lower the heat to maintain a simmer. Cook until most of the water has been absorbed and the chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. During the last 8 minutes, stir to make sure nothing is sticking on the bottom, then layer the greens on top, cover and finish cooking.

Remove from the heat, stir in the soy sauce, and lime juice. Fluff the rice and let sit for 5 minutes, covered. Season to taste with salt, and more soy or lime as needed. Top with the scallions and cilantro, serve and enjoy!

My verdict:

Good but needs work. It’s a simple dish to prepare and lends itself to all kinds of tweaks.

The ginger was nice, but if you have an aversion to large slices of ginger, you might want to julienne it. I gave up peeling ginger a long time ago and no one has ever complained, but if you want the extra work, by all means, peel. I have started rinsing my rice and have been more successful with it, but if you forget or run out of time…

The baby spinach was fine, but some small pieces of broccoli added after about 10 minutes, might have been more interesting, ditto bok choy. Some mushrooms (sliced) or bamboo shoots might be good additions. We added extra soy sauce, lime and sriracha to give it a little kick.

Ginger Chicken and Rice