One of my many weaknesses is Chinese Food. I quite simply adore Chinese flavours. I have never been to China or eaten "real" Chinese food, so I guess when I say I love Chinese flavours, I mean "westernised" Chinese food.
One of my favourite memories of when my children were growing up was when the power went out one time during a blizzard. We had been in the middle of making a stir fry on the stove and fried rice.
Not being ones to let bad weather get us down or deter us from our goals we finished it off outside in the shed on the gas BBQ. What a great adventure!
Another favourite Chinese food memory is of this place down the Valley from where I grew up in Granville Ferry. They had a restaurant called The Continental Kitchen. It really wasn't a restaurant per Se, but a big old Victorian Farm house that been converted into a Buffet place.
It was not a professionally run establishment, but rather a group of women who put on these buffet meals several times a week. They did Seafood Buffets and they did Chinese Buffets. They were incredibly popular! Their food was fabulous. You would never have known they weren't professionals!
My ex BIL and his wife used to do excellent Chinese Dinners at home, with sweet and sour chicken, chowmein, fried rice and a few other bits. Lots of work chopping things up, but oh were they ever delicious.
And of course I do enjoy throwing together stir fries and fried rice from time to time as well. My fried rice recipe comes from my MIL who got it from a friend of hers out in Winnipeg back in the 1950's. The original recipe used Minute Rice, but I adapted it through the years to use long grain regular rice. Its really good too.
Teriyaki is one of my favourite tastes and I know . . . Teriyaki is Japanese not Chinese. I don't want all you Purists e-mailing me and trying to set me straight. I do know the difference.
However to me, Oriental flavours are Oriental flavours and I love and enjoy them all. Even Korean which is a bit spicy but lovely all the same.
This tasty casserole makes good use of leftover cooked chicken and cooked rice. You begin by making a thick Teriyaki flavoured sauce.
tOnce that is done you stir in cooked chicken (cubed or shredded), cooked rice, and cooked stir fried vegetables . . . .
Pour it all into a casserole dish, cover and bake. It doesn't get much simpler.
You could of course use leftover chopped cooked beef if you would rather, or pork.
I think you could even use some prawns in this if you really wanted to. It is really quite versatile!
And really quite tasty. I like lots of vegetables in my Chinese dishes.
I probably have more vegetables in it than rice! But that's okay because I love them, and it bulks the dish out and they are good for you!
This was something my children never minded eating either. It was a great way to get them to eat their vegetables and get in some of their five a day!
I hope you will give this a try and that you enjoy it. You can also easily double it to serve more! And if you really want to be healthy, try using brown rice instead of white.
Yield: 4
Teriyaki Chicken & Rice Casserole
Deliciously simple using a fabulous homemade teriyaki sauce, leftover cooked chicken, precooked rice and frozen stir fry vegetables. A store cupboard favourite!
ingredients:
For the Sauce:
- 80ml low sodium soy sauce (1/3 cup)
- 75g sugar (1/3 cup)
- 60ml apple cider vinegar (1/4 cup)
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- pinch black pepper
- 1/2 TBS cornflour
- 1/2 TBS water
For the casserole:
- 2 chicken breast fillets, cooked and shredded
- 325g cooked rice (2 cups)
- 225g cooked or steamed stir fry vegetables (1 1/2 cups)
instructions:
How to cook Teriyaki Chicken & Rice Casserole
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/gas mark 4. Butter a medium sized casserole dish.
- Measure the soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, garlic, ginger and pepper into a saucepan. Heat stirring until the sugar has melted completely. Make a slurry of the corn flour and water. Stir this into the soy sauce mixture. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, cooking until the mixture thickens and bubbles. Cook for one minute further. Stir in the cooked chicken, rice and vegetables. Pour this mixture into the baking dish. Cover tightly with foil.
- Bake in the heated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until well heated through. Serve hot.
Its turned really cold here today. Brrr . . . we have the heat on and its only the middle of the afternoon. I think Winter is in a hurry to get here this year!
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