Ginger Crumbed Chicken and Thai fried Vegetables

I like going to the asian grocer to get my vegetables. There is no fuss, and they've got a great variety. It is there that I can develop some good ideas. This one is a light fusion between Thai and Japanese. Quite simple - it's chicken marinated in ginger, rice wine vinegar and mirin, then egged, salted and crumbed. This, served on a bed of vegetables, including chinese broccoli, thai egg plant, carrot, chilli and spring onion.

Ingredients (for 4)

For the chicken

800g chicken thighs, deboned and diced

1 Large thumb of Ginger, peeled and grated

6 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and minced

2 Tablespoons of Rice Wine Vinegar

1 Tablespoon Mirin

2 Eggs

2 Tablespoon of flour

2 Cups of Breadcrumbs

Salt

Pepper

Sesame oil

For the Vegetables

8 Thai eggplants, stems removed and quartered,

3 Stems of Chinese Broccoli, cut across the leaf to the stem

2 Carrots, peeled and cut in half lengthways, sliced into even chunks.

3 Stems of Spring Onions, angle sliced

2 Thai Chillies, finely sliced

3 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and minced

1 Onion, peeled and finely sliced

A small bunch of Coriander (around 10-12 stalks. Stalks minced, leaves whole)

2.5 Cups Brown Rice

White and Black Sesame Seeds

10g Palm Sugar

Rice Wine Vinegar

Soy Sauce

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Method

Preheat the oven to 180 C.

Take the chicken thighs and mix with the ginger, garlic, mirin and rice wine vinegar. Salt with a few grinds of salt and mix well. Put it in the fridge for a couple of hours.

After it's done, take it out. At this point, cook the rice as per packet instructions.

While it's cooking, boil a pot of water. In it, par-boil the carrots for 4-5 minutes then drain.

Now it's time to crumb the chicken. If you want to do it really efficiently, transfer the chicken to a plastic bag. chicken in the flour, twist up the bag and shake it up, work it in. When you open the bag it'll be nice and sticky.

Beat up two eggs in a bowl and spread out the breadcrumbs on a plate. Dip the chicken pieces in the egg and then the breadcrumbs. Transfer them to a roasting dish, oiled with sesame oil. When done, stick in the oven for twenty minutes while you crack on with the vegetables.

In a hot frying pan oiled with sesame oil, toss in the eggplants, carrots, chillies, onion, coriander stems and garlic until sizzling and browning nicely. Throw in 1/4 cup of rice wine vinegar and the palm sugar. Cook it hard and hot getting it brown and sticky. Grind it with salt and pepper and a couple of tablespoons of soy sauce. A tablespoon of white and black sesame seeds. The texture should be both soft and crunchy. Finally, mix in the coriander leaves.

Serve it all up like it is above, lashings of soy sauce, maybe even some yum yum sauce. Garnish with fresh chilli and finely sliced spring onions.

Enjoy!