This is one of my kids’ favourites and a great way to use up leftover rice. You can use ham or other favourites instead of the chicken, if you prefer, so you can be sure they’ll love it.
MAKES 2 adult or 4 kid-sized portions
PREPARATION TIME 10 minutes
COOKING TIME 7 minutes
2 skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp clear honey
1 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
4 spring onions/scallions, finely chopped
150g/5½oz green beans, cut into pieces
1 carrot or courgette/zucchini, peeled and coarsely grated
250g/9oz/12/3 cups cooked basmati rice (either shop-bought pre-cooked or using leftovers)
75g/2½oz/scant ½ cup sweetcorn
100g/3½oz canned diced pineapple, drained
1 egg, beaten
1 Put the chicken breasts in a bowl and stir in the soy sauce and honey. Leave to one side to marinate for a few minutes.
2 Heat the oil in a wok over a medium heat, add the chopped and grated vegetables and stir-fry for about 1 minute. Add the chicken and the marinade and stir-fry for a few minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Add the rice, sweetcorn and pineapple and stir-fry for about 2 minutes until the rice is hot right through.
3 Pour in the egg, stirring to mix the egg through the rice, and fry for about 30 seconds.
4 Serve with chopsticks for an authentic touch (and the entertainment value in most cases).
How to cook
perfect basmati rice
Start with a good-quality basmati rice and measure out the amount you need. As a general rule, 1 part rice to 2 parts water is the ratio, so to make life easy, measure the quantity of rice in a cup and use the same one to measure the water. Unless a recipe states otherwise, 65g/2¼oz/1/3 cup is usually sufficient per adult portion. Pop the rice in a sieve/fine-mesh strainer and rinse under the cold tap for about 1 minute to remove excess starch. Shake off as much water as you can, then tip the rice into a pan. Now measure in twice as much cold water and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil over a high heat. Immediately reduce the heat to low, cover with a tight-fitting lid and leave untouched for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and, with the lid still on, leave for a further 5 minutes. Run a fork through the rice and you will have delicious, fluffy basmati rice.