spicy chicken rice bowl (sans the rice)

spicy chicken saladFor the love of carbs!  Rice is my comfort food…yep, not potatoes.  The thing is, though, I am more conscious of carbohydrates than I was years ago.  My recipe does away with rice and piles on more veggies.  The spices help steer you away from any carbohydrate cravings.  When we lived in Asia (the early 2000s), rice bowls (donburi) were synonymous with Japanese cooking. Our favourites were Yoshinoya beef bowl, grilled eel rice bowl, tempura donburi, pork or chicken katsudon.  The toppings and sauce filtered down to the rice; heaven in a bowl!  But, don’t worry you’ll still achieve the same with this dish as the sweet, and spicy chicken adds texture along with the drippings finding their way to the salad.

serves 2

you will need

2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs sliced
romaine lettuce washed and roughly chopped
1/2 cucumber, chopped
a handful of coriander leaves, chopped
about 8 large mint leaves, roughly chopped (more if you like)
1 avocado, chopped
2 green onions, sliced
sesame seeds
Thai red curry paste (start with 1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon tamari sauce (can use soy sauce)
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 to 2 tablespoons honey

method

Arrange two large salad bowls on the counter. Begin building the salad by adding the chopped romaine topped with cucumber, avocado, mint, coriander, and green onions to each bowl. Drizzle with olive oil dressing (2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 tablespoons lime juice, 2 teaspoons sesame oil then shake in a small container).  Sprinkle sesame seeds over top.

In a wok or large skillet, over medium-high heat, add two tablespoons of olive oil.  Add red curry paste and stir until fragrant.  Toss chicken slices in cornstarch until well coated.  Add chicken to the wok, tossing to incorporate curry paste evenly.  Cook until crispy (about 6 or 7 minutes).  Add garlic halfway through cooking time.   Add fish and tamari sauce.  Finish off by drizzling honey over the top and toss.  Let the honey bubble a bit before removing the wok from the heat.  Arrange chicken on top of the salad and garnish with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

the culinary chase’s note:

This was aromatic and so satisfying.  Enjoy!