Teriyaki Chicken Rice with Miso Soup

Come to mama you bowl of yumminess!

I believe in food nourishing the soul. I believe that eating food that one craves will lead to a happier self. And I believe eating good food makes me a better mommy.

And that was how I found myself on that day at 2.30pm, between attending to the needs of a sick little girl and an extremely energetic little boy, in the unlikely situation of not having eaten lunch yet! My son had eaten a chicken-vegetable mayo sandwich with his friends at a playschool picnic and my daughter was not eating much at all due to her sickness leading to a lack of appetite, so at least the kids were warm and fed. But still no less demanding. And although this dish usually takes scarcely 30 minutes to cook, I was so busy running to and from the kitchen and the kids that it took me way way way longer than usual, and I was well on my way to becoming a cranky mommy to say the least. But the thought of a hot belly-warming homecooked Japanese meal and a sated craving kept me going coz I know, it would do me soooo much better than eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or having an instant cup noodle. I would rather wait for something good than have something mediocre right now, chaknowhatImean?

So if you are hankering for this dish, let it be known that this can be cooked, with no kitchen accident, under stressful conditions, even if you are frazzled and hungry wih 2 screaming kids.  I guess the trick is 1) to cook the rice first 2) prepare and cook the chicken while the rice cooks and 3) turn the rice off and cook the miso soup while the chicken continues cooking on low heat. A bit of multi-tasking needed sure, but we all are endowed with that talent aren't we?

Teriyaki Chicken Rice (feeds 2 adults and 2 toddlers)

1. Well first of all, cook your rice according to packet instructions. So make sure your pack of rice is not all in Japanese coz I ain't no Japanese cooking teacher who's gonna to tell you how to do it. But in a pinch, just use whatever type of rice you prefer. 
2. And now back to the chicken. I prefer to make chicken balls than just have chicken slices so all these go straight into the food processor for about 1 minute, EXCEPT for the Teriyaki Sauce and the water.

• 1 chicken breast, cubed
• 1/2 onion, cubed as well
• 1 carrot well cubed too
• Salt, black pepper and garlic powder shakes to taste
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons or more bottled Teriyaki sauce
• 4 tablespoons or more of water

Ready? Set. Go!

Wet your hands, and with wet hands, form balls of roughly equal size and drop them into a heated frying pan that has about 2 tablespoons of canola or other vegetable oil. Le them cook on all sides but they need only be half-cooked. You may have to do this in 2 batches, depending on the size of your pan.

When they are all half -cooked with some crunchy brown bits here and there, add the 4 tablespoons of bottled Teriyaki Sauce to slick the chicken balls with. Deglaze with some water (depending on how thick you want the sauce to be - I added 4 tbsp of water to my 4 tbsp of sauce. Let it simmer down and cook on low heat. I also added a bit of white pepper but that is totally up to you.

Miso Soup

400 ml of boiling water
2 tablespoons of Miso paste
2 teaspoon of Dashi powder
1 spring onion
Half a silken tofu, cut into as small pieces as you dare

Ready? Set. Go!

I just followed the instructions and modified them a bit, really. I added the Miso paste to 400ml of boiling water, together with the dashi powder . I found that this works for me well enough. Of course you can make your own dashi stock blah blah but hey short cuts are meant to be used. Stir, and add the silken tofu pieces. Cover and let cook for until the chicken is cooked and add the chopped spring onion before serving. Sprinkle roasted sesame seeds on top for more flavour.

Aaah, at last. When you eat the first spoonful and taste the caramelised chicken on your tongue, followed by the sticky rice washed down by the hot miso soup that warms you from the inside and calms you down immediately, you know that you have made the right decision to cook and that it was oh-so-well worth the hassle. And don't forget the Gari (Japanese sweet pickled ginger) to round up every bite.

Phew. Mission Really Accomplished!