Name: Whole Grain Congee with Crisp Panko Chicken
Ingredients: chicken; boneless chicken breasts; whole grains; chinese light soy sauce; all-purpose flour; sesame seeds; egg; black pepper; shaoxing wine; vegetable oil; fresh cilantro; turkey stock; farro; scallions; salt; brown jasmine rice; panko bread crumbs; pearled barley; pot barley; fresh ginger; beef stock

Liana Krissoff

Whole Grain Congee with Crisp Panko Chicken

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Slow Cook Modern

By Liana Krissoff

Published 2017

About
Recipes
contents

WITH sweet chile-garlic sauce

ALSO GOOD WITH green apple rojak OR grizzled asparagus

Use a good homemade stock here, if possible, because its flavor will be the basis of this simple porridge. I like the nutty, textured quality of whole grains in this dish, but feel free to use white rice or a combination of white and brown rice. And if frying chicken at the last minute is not something you want to tackle on an evening, a handful of just about any leftover meat pulled from the bone, or from a store-bought rotisserie chicken, is a perfectly acceptable substitute.

Ingredients

1 cup (about 190 g) whole grains: farro, pearled or pot barley, brown jasmine rice, or a ombination
2 quarts (2 L) good-quality stock, such as beef stock or chicken or turkey stock, or a combination
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 well-trimmed skinless, boneless chicken breasts
¼ cup (30 g) all-purpose flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup (80 g) panko bread crumbs, or more, if needed
1 large egg
About 6 tablespoons (90 ml) vegetable oil
Chinese light soy sauce
3 scallions, thinly sliced
¼ cup (10 g) chopped fresh cilantro
Toasted sesame seeds

Main course

Method

Morning

Rinse the grains in a sieve under running water, then dump them into the slow cooker. Add the stock, wine, and ginger. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Morning or Evening

Cut the chicken into strips ½ inch (12 mm) thick. If doing this in the morning, put in a covered container and refrigerate. Put the flour in a medium bowl or on a plate and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a grinding of black pepper. Put the panko in a second bowl or plate. Line a plate with paper towels and set aside.

Evening

In a small bowl, whisk the egg together with 1 tablespoon water and a pinch of salt; set it near the flour and panko. In batches, toss the chicken strips in the flour to coat, then in the egg, then in the panko. In a large skillet or sauté pan, heat half of the oil over medium-high heat. When it shimmers, add half of the chicken strips. Cook, turning with tongs, until browned all over and cooked through, about 5 minutes total; transfer to the paper towels to drain. Grab a paper towel with the tongs and wipe out the pan to remove any blackened bits. Cook the remaining chicken. If you’d like, coarsely chop the chicken strips on a board (it makes for easier eating, if a less attractive bowl).

Whisk the rice mixture in the cooker and season with soy sauce to taste. Serve in bowls, topped with the fried chicken, scallions, cilantro, and sesame seeds.