Spicy chilli basil chicken

Another tasty but simple Thai dish - this is a 'go-to' dish all over Thailand for lunch, it's usually served on white rice and topped with a fried egg. 

Ingredients
Chicken diced into small pieces
Green beans diced into small pieces
4 crushed garlic cloves
1 white/yellow onion
6 birds eye chillis de-seeded and finely chopped
Handful of basil leaves (can be Thai holy basil or regular basil)
Soy sauce
Sugar
Water
Cornflour to thicken

Method
Stir fry garlic, onions and chilli to release the flavour. Fry until the onions are translucent. Add chicken and green beans and stir fry until cooked.


Add 6 dessertspoons of soy sauce, 1.5 - 2 teaspoons of sugar and as much water as you need for it to taste ok to you. Thicken with a little cornflour mixed with water and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add the basil leaves and cook for a further 2-4 minutes until basil leaves are wilted.

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Sweet and sour chicken

With thanks to Jan on the Yum Asia team for this delicious recipe for a firm favourite dish to be served with rice.

Ingedients

Chicken (or you can use pork, tofu, seafood - whatever takes your fancy)

Chicken stock

Small amount of light soy sauce

Cider vinegar, or a light vinegar

A couple of dessertspoons of tomato ketchup or Sri Racha chilli sauce

Pineapple (if fresh, use one quarter per 2 people)

Tomatoes cubed or quartered

One or two birdseye chilli either fresh or dried (we use two as we like ours spicy)

A clove or two of garlic to your own taste

Spring onions, plus any other veggies you want to use

One white/yellow onion sliced

Brown sugar or honey

Method:

Stir fry white/yellow onion with garlic and chilli. When the onion is translucent add the chicken and cook. Once the chicken is sealed, add the vegetables (holding back the spring onion) and stir fry until cooked. Then add the stock, soy sauce, vinegar, tomato ketchup/Sri Racha and brown sugar or honey. Adjust the sauce to your own taste. Thicken with cornflour and add the pineapple and spring onions.

Serve with rice from your Zojirushi rice cooker.

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Chicken with cashew nuts

A dish which is very common in Thailand, a delicious and savoury sauce which pairs perfectly with your Zojirushi cooked white rice!

Stir fry cashew nuts to brown them and make them crunchy (you can also bake them in the oven if you prefer) - you don't need to use oil if you don't want to. Set the browned cashews to one side.


Crush two cloves of garlic and deseed one or two birds eye chillis (depending on how hot you like it!). Stir fry this in a pan until the flavours start to release and then add the chicken. Keep oil to the minimum and just add spoonfuls of chicken stock to the pan/wok to stop it from sticking. 


Once the chicken is sealed add peppers, carrots, green beans, baby sweetcorn, mange tout and other veg (we like to add broccoli and cauliflower) you may like and stir fry until cooked. Keep adding bits of chicken stock. 


When cooked, add enough chicken stock to make a sauce into the pan/wok. Season the sauce with quite a generous splash of soya sauce, a dash of black pepper and salt. Add a generous spoon of honey - we also add some Thai sweet chilli sauce at this point too. Taste to see if the seasoning is correct and adjust accordingly. Thicken sauce with cornflour mixed with water. Leave to simmer for 10-15 minutes to develop the flavours - it should be a salty, sweet, spicy mix.


Serve with white rice and then sprinkle a handful of the previously cooked cashew nuts over the top of each person's serving and mix in. If you prefer a vegetarian version substitute chicken stock for vegetable stock and replace the chicken pieces with tofu pieces.

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Butternut squash risotto in a rice cooker

This is a lovely warming recipe perfect for Autumn...no standing over the stove top stirring this risotto - it's easy to do in your Zojirushi rice cooker! This is to be made in 5.5 cup or 10 cup cooker. Serves 4-5 people.

Ingredients 

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp unsalted butter

2/3 cup of finely chopped yellow onion

1 cup plus 2 tbsp of medium grain risotto rice (superfine Arborio, Carnaroli or Vialone nano)

1 ¾ to 2 cups seeded and peeled butternut squash, cut into ½ inch cubes

1 ½ cups water

1 ½ cups stock

TO FINISH

2 teaspoons unsalted butter

2 tbsp lime juice

¼ cup fresh minced Italian parsley leaves

¼ cup freshly grated Parmasan cheese, plus more for serving

Salt to taste

You can also add diced courgette/zucchini, the flavour combines well with the butternut squash.

HOW TO MAKE

1.    Set the rice cooker for Quick Cook or regular cycle. Place olive oil and butter in the rice cooker bowl. When the butter melts add the onion, cook stirring a few times until softened – about 2 minutes. Add rice and stir with plastic rice spatula to coat the grains with hot butter. Cook, stirring a few times until the grains of rice are transparent except for a spot of white on each one – about 3-5 minutes. Add the squash, water and stock and stir to combine. Close the cover and reset for the porridge cycle (it will take around 20 minutes to cook).

2.    When the machine switches to keep warm, stir the risotto. There should only be a bit of liquid and the rice should be al dente - i.e. tender with a touch of resistance. If needed cook for a few minutes longer. This risotto will keep on the keep warm setting for an hour, any longer it will thicken considerably.

3.    When ready to serve add the butter, close the cover for a while to allow the butter to melt. Stir in lime juice, parsley, cheese and salt to taste and serve immediately.

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Ginger chilli chicken

This is a 'made up by us' recipe, an experiment which turned out really well. A tasty blend of ginger and sweet chilli which goes perfectly with rice.

Finely chop two fingers worth of ginger, crush two cloves of garlic and deseed one or two birds eye chillis (depending on how hot you like it!). Stir fry this in a pan until the flavours start to release and then add the chicken. Keep oil to the minimum and just add spoonfuls of chicken stock to the pan/wok to stop it from sticking. 


Once the chicken is sealed add peppers, carrots, green beans, baby sweetcorn and other veg you may like and stir fry until cooked. Keep adding bits of chicken stock. 


When cooked, add enough chicken stock to make a sauce into the pan/wok. Season the sauce with a splash of soya sauce, black pepper, salt. Add a spoon on sugar and a spoon of honey - we also add some Thai sweet chilli sauce at this point too. Taste to see if the seasoning is correct and adjust accordingly. Thicken sauce with cornflour mixed with water.


Serve with fluffy rice from your Zojirushi.

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Pork Adobo - a Filipino favourite!

A very different dish, but a firm favourite with us and Filipinos alike! One of the national dishes of the Philippines, Adobo is delicious and unlike anything else you will eat in Asia. The dish can be made with chicken as an alternative to pork.

Ingredients

Pork chunks

Potatoes

3 cloves of garlic (based with the edge of a knife)

1 red onion

Finely chopped ginger

90ml soy sauce

135ml vinegar

360ml water

A pinch of paprika

5 bay leaves

Cornflour (to thicken sauce)

Salt and pepper to taste

Sugar to taste

How to make:

Saute garlic, onions and ginger until onions are soft. Add the pork chunks and seal.

Add soy sauce, vinegar, water, bay leaves and paprika. At this point add a little salt and pepper and sugar (usually around 1½ dessert spoons). Leave to simmer for up to an hour. The longer you leave to simmer, the fuller the flavour. We usually also add carrots and some other veg like red pepper, broccoli and cauliflower, but the dish can be served with just pork and potatoes.

Add cornflour and water to thicken and add more salt and pepper, according to how it tastes. Bring to the boil again and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

Delicious served with rice from your Zojirushi.

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Kadai chicken

Kadai chicken, another Indian favourite of ours, a very aromatic, tasty tomato based sauce.

Ingredients (serves 2)

Chicken and whatever veg you like - we use potato, carrot, green beans, red pepper, broccoli, cauliflower and fresh tomatoes to garnish (add at the very end of cooking)

1 onion

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

¼ teaspoon chilli powder (or more if you like it very spicy!)

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 ½ teaspoon ginger-garlic paste

½ teaspoon of fennel seeds

2 cinnamon sticks (medium size)

½ teaspoon garam masala powder

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

4 cloves

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

To make

Marinate chicken with ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder and garam masala powder and salt

Preheat a pan and splutter fennel seeds, cinnamon, cloves and bay leaves (when the pan is hot add a little water which will splutter the seeds – we prefer to use water rather than oil because we don’t like the oil floating on the sauce). Add chopped onions and fry until soft and golden and then add the marinated chicken and cook.

Add tin of chopped tomatoes, chilli powder, coriander powder and mix well. Add a dessert spoon of sugar, a little salt and some ground black pepper. Add the chicken/onion/spices mixture when it’s cooked and stir well.

Simmer on a low heat and add some milk to the sauce (or plain yoghurt if you prefer). Serve with fluffy rice from your Zojirushi.

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