Recipe
Stir-Fried Aussie Asparagus, Chicken and Red Coral Rice
Red Coral Rice is a specialty rice from Thailand. It is ground with a specific stone to obtain its color and it has an earthy, nutty flavor. Here, it provides a lovely contrast to the asparagus with its fresh herbaceous flavour.
Ingredients
- 500g chicken thigh fillets, trimmed, cut into thin slices length ways
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- Pinch Chinese five spice powder
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped finely
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
- 1 carrot, sliced julienne (see Tip)
- 1/2 red capsicum, sliced julienne (see Tip)
- 100g zucchini, sliced thinly
- 150g Swiss brown mushrooms, sliced thinly
- 200g straw mushroom, drained and cut into quarters
- 100g baby corn, chopped length ways
- 1 red onions, sliced thinly
- 125g green beans, trimmed, cut into 4
- 1 bunch asparagus, cut into 6 pieces per stem, keeping tips apart
- 1 1/2 teaspoons rice flour
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari (see Tip)
- 4 cups cooked Red Coral Rice (see Tip)
Method
- Place chicken, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, soy sauce and Chinese five spice powder into a bowl and mix to ensure each piece of chicken is coated. Set aside whilst preparing the vegetables.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a wok or heavy based frying pan over high heat, swirling gently to coat base and sides. Cook chicken in small batches, adding chicken pieces and stir-frying with garlic and ginger until chicken is just brown. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to pan, heat and stir-fry each of the vegetables (except for the asparagus) for 2 minutes maximum (see Tip).
- Dissolve rice flour in a little of the stock and mix with the remaining stock, sesame oil, honey, soy sauce. Return chicken pieces, stir fried vegetables, and asparagus to pan, gently mixing to combine. Reduce heat to medium, add rice flour mixture to pan and stir until sauce bubbles and thickens. Decorate top with the asparagus tips.
- Serve immediately with boiled red coral rice.
Tips
- Red Coral rice is generally, available at specialty food outlets (such as Harris Farm in Sydney) and it is cooked as per white rice.
- Sliced julienne is cut into long thin strips like matchsticks.
- Stir-frying each vegetable separately ensures that the unique flavor of each vegetable is maintained and is not lost in the mix.
- If the pan becomes a little dry, add a few tablespoons of water to ingredients whilst stir- frying.
- For this recipe to be dairy-free, avoid using prepared and packaged foods containing dairy products. Take care to check ingredient labels on all products you use.
Recipe provided by Anna Peters.