Poached Chicken with Ginger Scallion Sauce
An important skill for the student is the art of cooking ahead- preparing dishes that can be popped into a container and stored for another day. All the more time to dedicate to the education that you will be using the save the world.
To make something that you’ll be happy to eat over the course of the week or longer, you want something that will either serve as the gustatory equivalent of a blank canvas. Anything more complex and its reincarnative possibilities will be compromised, making you that sad person who eats the same thing every day instead of that cool guy, imaginatively and enviably thrifty with both money and time.
Poached chicken is a good one to master, since the leftovers, shredded or chopped, can be added to pretty much anything except dessert. Its companion today is a ginger scallion sauce, which can be made in bulk and then stored in the refrigerator for a month or more. Get them both going at the same time, then step back to gleefully consider the innumerable birds you are killing with one stone.
Poached Chicken Breast
Place skinless chicken breasts in a pan and cover with water; add salt or spices if you wish. Bring to a boil then simmer for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and cover for 20-30 minutes. Sauce and serve as desired; the poaching liquid can be reserved for future cooking projects.
Ginger Scallion Sauce
Adapted from Francis Lam of Salon
A clean glass jar
1/2 bunch green onions (approximately 3 or 4 individual ones)
a knob of ginger (1-2 inches)
4 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1/2 cup peanut oil (or other oil with a high smoke point)
Finely mince your green onions and grate your ginger. Mix them with the salt and put them in the jar. Heat up your oil until you can see it go wavy, then remove from the heat and slowly pour it into the jar, being careful not to let it splatter on you. It will sizzle as the hot oil cooks the things inside. Once activity has subsided, spoon over shredded poached chicken with rice and vegetables, or add to noodles, marinades, stir fries.
