(Chinese) Chicken Curry and Fried Rice

Chicken

Either buy pre-cooked chicken breasts or buy uncooked and either oven bake for 30 minutes or fry off in chunks. Chicken breasts are best for chicken curry. Remove any skin and chunk up into bite size pieces.

The Curry Sauce

I find Yeungs Curry Sauce Mix is my personal favourite curry sauce mix. Others say Mayflower is very good (Farmfoods do it.). Yeungs, I tend to find in Morrisons but can never usually remember which supermarket, so I usually get a couple of bags when I see it. The bag, it’s a powder mix will last you a few meals. A couple of tablespoons at a time.

Mix a couple of tablespoons of the curry sauce mix in 3/4 pint of water, with a whisk and put on a medium heat until the mixture comes to a simmer. Still well, reduce the heat and continue to simmer for about 5 minutes as you fry your rice. The sauce will thicken and you might need a splash of water to get the right consistency.

Onion

I spent years frying onions for curry sauce then found out I was doing it wrong. Hack an onion in half a couple of times into chunks. Put it in a bowl with a splash of water, cover with clingfilm (pierce it) and microwave it for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove the film and drain.

The Rice
1 cup of Basmati (long grain) Rice.
Salt

Wash the rice in a pot, in running cold water (gets rid of some of the starch).

Cover in an extra inch of cold water, add some salt, bring to the boil, stir and reduce the heat. Don’t cover. Cook for about 7 or 8 minutes until the rice is still loose but tender. You don’t want it sticking together. Drain into a colander, wash off any remaining starch and cool down with cold water until cold. Put kitchen paper in the colander. Set aside to dry off. (This is the quick cool version. Fried rice is best made with cold rice.) Beware of using yesterday’s rice, as starch is a breeding ground for bacteria.

Put your wok on the heat, full blast. When the wok smokes add 3 tablespoons of ordinary oil. Not olive oil. When it’s really hot add the rice. Mix in with the oil adding a good shake of salt and white pepper. Pack the rice up the sides of the wok and leave for a minute or so before stir frying. Pack it back on the side of the wok.
Sprinkle some Dark Soya Sauce around the wok and mix/toss through the rice. Keep stir frying now and keep the rice moving for a few minutes as the soya sauce dries out. Continue to toss the wok for another few minutes.

When the rice is being fried bring the rest of the curry together. Add the onions and the cooked chicken into the sauce and continue to warm through.