Hot Chicken Stir Fry With Veggies And Brown Rice

First we will be velveting the chicken.

We have about 500 grams of boneless skinless chicken breasts that need to be cut into thin strips. Velveting is the process of passing the marinated meat (mostly lean cuts of meat) briefly in oil or water. This process keeps the meat tender, juicy and moist.
Wash the chicken after cutting and drain the water completely.

To the chicken, add in a little pepper powder. If you have white pepper powder, you can use that too. Add a little sugar, half a teaspoon of baking soda – as baking soda is alkaline, it prevents the muscle fibers from tightening up while cooking. The meat remains tender and retains the moisture while cooking making the chicken very juicy. Add in little corn starch, soy sauce and little sesame oil. Finally add in the egg white. Mix everything well to combine. Make sure to massage the chicken well so the ingredients get to penetrate into the chicken flavoring it till deep.

Marinate the chicken for at least 30 minutes. You can leave it in the fridge for upto 3-4 hours if not using it immediately.

Now it’s time to velvet the meat. Bring a big pot of water to a boil. When it’s boiling, add in the marinated meat. Mix well so the chicken does not clump up. Let the water come to a boil again. It should take about a couple of minutes. You need not cook the chicken for long. We will be cooking it again briefly while stir-frying. So cooking for a couple of minutes will do.

After cooking for a couple of minutes, remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. Discard the water.

Now let’s stir fry.
Heat a wok on high flame and add in the oil. I used groundnut oil today. To the oil, add in the minced ginger and the minced garlic. I like to use a lot of garlic as we love the flavour of garlic in stir-fries at home. You can always use more or less depending on what your family prefers.
Add in the spring onions, the white part only at this stage. Add in the dried red chillies. Break the chillies into two and add to the wok. I have removed the seeds from half of them and kept the seeds in the remaining. Adjust the spice levels according to your taste. If you like a really spicy stir fry, leave the seeds on. If you want a mild stir fry, de-seed the red chillies so only the flavour of the chillies penetrate but not the heat. Most of the heat of the chilli is only in the seed.
Saute briefly for a few seconds.
We will need about four cups of veggies for this recipe. Add in the veggies that take a longer time to cook first. The veggies you use in your stir fry is totally up to you. I have added carrots and baby corn today. Mix the veggies well. Cook the veggies for a couple of minutes so it gets charred here and there. After a couple of minutes, add in the remaining veggies. I have added broccoli and capsicum. Make sure to cut all the veggies in similar sizes so they cook uniformly. Add in a few tablespoons of water at this stage so the veggies do not scorch at the bottom. Cover the wok with a lid and cook for a few minutes till the veggies are tender but firm. It should take about 3-4 minutes.
Once the veggies are cooked to your liking, add in the chicken. Add in the black pepper powder. Add in the soy sauce. Add in a teaspoon of plain vinegar. I have also added a chicken stock cube for additional flavour. Just break it into small pieces and add so it does not remain clumpy. Cook everything for a few more minutes.
Finally make a cornstarch slurry by mixing half a cup of water and a teaspoon of cornstarch. Mix well and add it to the wok. The slurry will coat the veggies and chicken making it slightly saucy. Along with the slurry, add in chopped spring onion. I like to add a lot of spring onion in stir fries. Cook for a couple of minutes for the sauce to thicken. At this stage, check for seasoning and add salt only if necessary. The soy sauce and the stock cube have enough salt in them. Our stir fry is ready.

Now let’s move on to the Brown Rice

I used a regular basmati variety for cooking today. There are two types of brown rice. The quick cooking variety and the regular old fashioned rice. I like the regular ones better as they are less processed, more hearty and remain very aromatic after cooking.
This method will work for both kinds of rice. Wash and soak the rice for 15 minutes in water. No need to soak the brown rice for long. 15 minutes is good enough.
I like to cook the brown rice using the drain method and not the absorption method. The drain method is where you cook the rice in lots of water and drain the excess water after cooking. The texture of rice cooked this way is much better than the texture of rice cooked using the absorption method. I have used about 1 cup of rice and 5 cups of water. Add them in a cooker and cook for two whistles. After the said whistles, let the pressure settle on its own. Once the pressure has settled, open the cooker. Drain the rice on a colander. Tap the colander several times to get rid of the excess water and moisture from the rice. Transfer the rice from the colander to a serving bowl. The rice will be cooked well and still hold as separate grains. Our brown rice is ready.