The Key to Cooking Chicken Breast
I’m probably going against the grain quite a bit here, but chicken breast is one of my least favorite foods. While most Americans overwhelmingly prefer white meat, I’m a dark meat girl myself. I just find it to be more flavorful and less dry overall. It’s much easier to mess up a chicken breast than it is to mess up, say, a chicken thigh or drumstick. But when prepared correctly, the humble chicken breast can work magic. The key is keeping it moist. One way to do that is to sear the entire chicken breast over high heat, just long enough to cook it through. This seals in the juices and is great for slicing over salads or pastas. Another method is to slice the chicken thin, and then sear it very quickly (we’re talking less than a minute here) in a stir-fry type situation. We have plenty of those. (See: Spicy Chicken Stir-fry, Chicken with Black Beans, and 15-Minute Chicken Curry, to name just a few.) But the final method I can think of to prevent that woefully dry chicken breast we all know and hate? Stuffing it. Exhibit A: Sticky Rice Stuffed Chicken Breast:
Doesn’t that look GOOD? Not dry at all.
I’ve found that butterflying the chicken breast, stuffing it, giving it a quick sear in a pan to seal in the juices, and then finishing it quickly in the oven yields consistently great results. I decided to do a sticky rice stuffing (see my OG sticky rice roasted chicken recipe, where I used de-boned chicken thighs. Definitely a bit more work, but available for my fellow dark meat connoisseurs), with bacon, mushrooms, and lots of scallions. I also seasoned the chicken breast with sand ginger powder, in addition to salt and pepper. This ingredient is optional, but really worth it if you can find it. It adds a wonderful flavor to the finished stuffed chicken breast dish. Ok, here’s how to make it!
Sticky Rice Stuffed Chicken Breast: Recipe Instructions
In a wok over high heat, add the chopped bacon and fry until the bacon is crispy and some of the fat has rendered out.
Add the chopped mushrooms…
And sauté until caramelized.
Stir in the scallions.
Transfer to a bowl along with the cooked sticky (glutinous or sweet) rice. (See our instructions on how to pre-cook sticky rice.) Add the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and five spice powder.
Stir until combined.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Take your butterflied chicken breasts and season them with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the sand ginger powder if using.
Divide the sticky rice mixture among the four butterflied chicken breasts.
Fold them over to seal, and use a couple toothpicks to secure the butterflied halves together.
In a cast iron skillet over medium high heat, add the vegetable oil. Sear the chicken breasts on both sides (about 2 minutes per side).
Deglaze with a couple tablespoons of hot water, and swirl it around the pan. Transfer to the oven, and roast for 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
Serve! And remember to take those toothpicks out!
