Teriyaki Chicken Sauté with Peas + Carrots

Rinse the rice and place it in a small pot with a fitted lid. Add the water and salt, bring to a boil. Stir well, then turn down the heat to low and cover. Steam the rice, without peeking at it, for 35 - 40 minutes or until the water has absorbed and the rice is tender. I like to turn off the heat and add a teaspoon of butter to it, cover and let it sit for another 5 - 10 minutes, but that is optional.

While rice is cooking, make the sauce. Combine the liquid ingredients (soy sauce, stock, honey, vinegar) in a small pan and bring to a simmer. While that’s heating up, grate or mince the garlic and ginger as finely as you can manage - a microplane or box grater works, or just chop away until it’s fine. Add the garlic and ginger and simmer for 1 minute.

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and an equal amount of water (making the recipe for 4 calls for 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, so mix with 1 Tablespoon of water). When that is smooth, stir it into the boiling soy sauce mixture on the stove top. Use a rubber spatula and stir constantly until it returns to a boil and you will see it thicken up before your eyes. Once it coats the spoon or boils for 1 minute, turn off the heat and stir in the knob of butter. Set aside.

Slice the chicken into thin strips - ideally across the grain of the meat. Place in a small bowl and drizzle with a bit of the oil to very lightly coat the pieces.

Scrub the carrots clean, then trim off the very end. Slice on a thin diagonal to make slices about a ¼” thick. Set aside in a bowl.

Trim the ends and strings off of the snap peas and either leave them whole (for less chopping) or slice them in ½ on an angle (for fancy looking peas and bite size pieces). Set them aside in a separate bowl.

Heat a large nonstick pan over high heat and add about ½ of the remaining oil - or less, you can really add this to taste and as needed to neatly stir fry - coconut oil, butter or other oil variety is just fine). When it’s hot, add the chicken pieces in one layer. It’s likely that you’ll have to do 2 batches, don’t try to force them all in or they will steam and not brown nicely. Cook for about 2 - 3 minutes on one side, then flip to the other side. When they’re browned and mostly cooked through, lift the chicken out onto a plate and repeat with the second batch of chicken

When both batches of chicken are done, add the carrots to the empty pan. Stir fry for about 3 minutes. Add the peas and cook for 2 more minutes.

When the peas are bright green, add the chicken and any juices back to the pan. Add in about ½ of the sauce to start and stir to coat. You can turn the heat down to medium-high at this point. Let it return to a simmer and if you’d like, add more sauce to taste. If it has become way too thick, you can actually add a Tablespoon or so of water to loosen it up again.

Slice the green onion and add. Add sesame seeds or save for garnish.

Scoop out a nice pile of rice and top with stir fry and extra green onions or sesame seeds to taste.

Extra sauce holds in the fridge for 2 weeks or you can freeze it. It’s great to have this sauce ready to go and is delicious brushed on fish, chicken, tofu or veggies on the outdoor grill.