Curry-Poached Chicken with Rice and Scallions
Continuing to chug along on the healthy eating train, I wanted to share another chicken and rice recipe, this time from Bon Appétit. Anything with an overload of green onions always appeals to me, and I’d never made a poached chicken breast before.
INGREDIENTS:
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8 scallions (about 1 bunch), divided
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4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 1/4 lbs)
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3 garlic cloves, smashed
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1 3-inch piece ginger, peeled, smashed to pieces, thinly sliced
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2 tablespoons mild curry powder
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2 teaspoons Morton kosher salt, divided, plus more
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Juice from 1 orange (about 1/4 cup)
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Juice from 1 lime (about 2 tablespoons)
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Freshly ground black pepper
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Warm jasmine or brown rice (for serving)
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Coarsely chop 4 scallions and transfer to a medium pot. Add chicken, garlic, ginger, curry powder, 2½ tsp. salt, and 4 cups water. Slowly bring to a bare simmer over medium heat. Once liquid begins to simmer, reduce heat to low and cook until juices run clear when thickest part of chicken is pierced, 10-12 minutes.
Poaching Liquid -
Meanwhile, thinly slice remaining scallions. Whisk orange juice and lime juice in a small bowl; season with salt and 8 turns of a pepper mill, or about 3/4 tsp. (you want a lot of pepper!).
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Transfer chicken to a cutting board and let cool slightly. Strain poaching liquid through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl. Cut chicken crosswise into thin slices.
Curry Poached Chicken -
Divide rice and chicken among bowls and top with sliced scallions. Spoon poaching liquid and some of the citrus juice over chicken and rice before serving.
Drizzle Poaching Liquid and Citrus Mixture
NOTE: Be extra careful when dealing with the poaching liquid. Yours truly managed to splatter a bit on herself and on the carpet runner in our kitchen. There unfortunately is now a permanent curry powder stain on every piece of fabric that little splatter touched.
This was definitely a very “clean” dish, but I personally prefer dark meat over white. If I were to make this again, I’d probably use chicken thighs. However, you definitely wouldn’t get the pretty slices of meat with dark meat, if that matters.
We had this with a side of baby bok choy sauteed in a bit of ponzu. We also had way more of the poaching liquid leftover than we needed for the sauce, so we used 2 cups of it to cook another cup of rice. It was really tasty and I think it’d also be a great base to make fried rice with!
