Asian-style chicken with garlic rice

There are some Asian recipes that make you wonder what half the ingredients are and where in the world to get them. With this recipe, you will need only the Asian basics — soy sauce, lemon, garlic and 48 hours of waiting to attain a tasty fried chicken dish.

Asian cuisine cannot exist without soy sauce. It’s used in a lot if not all dishes. In this chicken recipe, I used only two ingredients to marinate the chicken for two days. You guessed one of them — soy sauce. And since soy sauce is salty, I balanced it with fresh lemon juice. There’s a delicious contrast of salty and tart flavors that blend in a spectacular Asian way. No other marinade is as simple as that.

Eating Asian style requires rice or noodles rather than bread or potatoes, so an equally simple yet tasty partner for the chicken is rice fried with oil and toasted garlic. It sounds simple, but wait until you try it.

Asian-style fried chicken with garlic fried rice recipe

Serves 3

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/8 cup lemon juice (taken from 1/2 a lemon)
• 3 chicken thighs with skin and bones intact
• Olive oil (or oil of your choice)
• Sesame seeds (optional)
• Garlic fried rice (see recipe below)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together the soy sauce and lemon juice. Adjust the taste according to your preference.
2. In a container with a cover, place the chicken together with the soy sauce marinade. Cover, and refrigerate for 48 hours. Turn the chicken occasionally to marinate all the parts.
3. When ready to cook, drain the chicken, and discard the marinade.
4. In a saucepan with olive oil over medium-high heat, fry the chicken skin side down. Brown both sides.
5. Sprinkle the chicken with sesame seeds, if using.
6. Serve the chicken immediately with the garlic fried rice on the side.

Garlic fried rice recipe

Serves 3

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4-5 cups cooked white rice (best when cooked hours before)
• Salt
• Chives, finely chopped (optional)

Directions:

1. While frying the chicken, in a saucepan over medium heat with about a tablespoon of olive oil, toast the garlic. When the cloves turn golden, transfer them to a small plate, and set them aside.
2. In the same saucepan, add more olive oil (about 4 tablespoons), and sauté the rice. Mix the rice with the oil well, and then sprinkle with some salt.
3. Sprinkle the toasted garlic and chives (if using) on top, and serve while hot alongside the fried chicken.

More chicken recipes

Chicken tikka masala kabob recipe
Quinoa-crusted chicken recipe
Chicken adobo sandwich recipe