Introducing one of our favourite ready meals on the We Feed You menu - Poached Chicken with Aromatic Rice and Bok Choy. It's simple name is immensely deceiving, so we've taken a deep dive into this meals to understand what makes it so popular with We Feed You customers.
This Chinese inspired chicken over rice is a meal that most Asian families would be familiar with. Like Sunday morning bacon and eggs for the British, this meal is an affordable comfort food often made at home, found on restaurant menus or bought from street vendors. In Malaysia and Singapore there is Hainanese Chicken Rice, in Thailand Khao Man Gai and in Vietnam Com Ga. While all unique, once you’ve tried any one of them, you’ll understand the appeal of a simple but delicious chicken over rice dish or in our case chicken under rice! Co-business owner Tracey says “when all the individual components come together, this meal is classic comfort food at its finest!”
The aromatic rice and poached chicken, which forms the base of this meal are simmered in our very own homemade chicken broth. It’s the perfect example of never overstating the importance of a good broth for cooking. We make ours using a combination of chicken bones and veggies combined with ginger, spring onions and fish sauce. This broth is a welcome tonic in the We Feed You kitchen with leftovers shared amongst staff just like mothers across Asia would share with their families or poorly neighbours. Nothing this good and nourishing should dare be wasted.
Once poached, the chicken is sliced into pieces so the meal can be enjoyed without requiring a knife and fork – true street style eating. The green vegetable to complement this meal is bok choy, which is blanched then refreshed in cold water to retain its bright green colour. It adds a lovely fresh and subtle sweet flavour to the meal.
It's hard to know if the star of this meal is the chicken or aromatic rice but the co-stars are without doubt the red and green condiments. They may be small or even appear tokenistic, but don’t be mistaken they have big influence on the overall taste. For the red, it’s a combination of red chilli and garlic oil,
whilst for the green we bring together ginger, green spring onions and sesame oil.
Each of these ingredients are full of unique flavours, but the combination really makes them shine. They also bring a splash of colour to the top and centre of the meal, and we recommend once the meal is heated, combining all the components together to disperse these incredible flavours.
Tracey adds, “quite frankly, we have attracted some great talent to the We Feed You kitchen including world class chefs with deep experience. Each individual brings unique life and cooking experiences to their role. Combine this with beautiful fresh Australian produce, home-made broths, stocks or stews and you quickly understand why the flavours in our meals pop”. Unique to the We Feed You style of cooking, this meal is also suitable for those following a Low FODMAP, lactose free or gluten free diet.
