Yes...you've guessed it, the title may be a joke as we all know that chickens have wings, but both the boneless breasts and thighs can be cut into 'fingers' and used in a variety of ways: goujons that have been floured, eggs and crumbed, made into a stir fry or curry as well as marinated, barbecued, griddled or sauteed. At Louis Mann we have a wide variety of prepared chicken including skinless breast fillets and schnitzels which can easily be sliced into fingers with a sharp kitchen knife.
Chickens soak up whatever ingredients you choose to put with them and are the perfect 'canvas' protein; just as happy with mild and gentle flavours as more strident punchy ones.
I don't know about you, but while the weather is as warm as this, I don't want to spend hours slaving over a hot stove to make a midweek supper. I want something light, fresh and tasty and this salad can be prepared a few hours in advance leaving plenty of time to enjoy the late afternoon Summer sun and a well earned glass of something cold and delicious!
I am allergic to pineapple so often make this salad with mango instead. You can easily adapt this recipe by leaving out the chili if you don't like it or adding more if you do.
One tip bearing in mind is that once the rice is cooked, it must be cooled immediately as cooked rice can be a major culprit of food poisoning if not handled correctly.
I don't want to put you off making this so just make sure that once the rice is cooked you tip it into a sieve and run cold water over it to cool it and then place the sieve over a bowl in the fridge to drain.
FRAGRANT ASIAN RICE SALAD WITH CHICKEN
INGREDIENTS:
800G chicken breast fillets cut into finger wide strips
1 tbs vegetable oil
juice of 1 lime
2tbs light soy sauce
2tbs kosher Worcestershire sauce (to replace the Nam Pla)
2tbs palm or light brown sugar
4tbs Japanese rice vinegar
500g cooked Basmati rice, cooked and cooled
250g pineapple chunks chopped
1 red chili finely chopped
4 spring onions finely sliced
small bunch of chives chopped.
large handful mint leaves chopped
large handful coriander leaved chopped
METHOD :
Heat a griddle pan to hot, brush and season the chicken strips and cook on both sides until nicely charred and cooked through.
Place the rice, pineapple, spring onions and herbs in a large bowl.
Whisk together the lime juice. soy, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, chopped chili and vinegar and stir through the rice mixture. Pile onto plates and serve the chicken alongside accompanied by a wedge or two of lime.