Chicken and rice broth in a mug
One small pan, and a mug instead of a bowl
Serves one by design. Make a double batch in a small pan if you are feeding two, though the rice keeps absorbing liquid as it sits.
Some days a bowl feels like too much crockery, and a mug is the more honest size. This is barely more than stock, rice and a little chicken, simmered together in one small pan until the rice has gone completely soft and the chicken pulls apart with two forks. There is no chopping beyond that, no separate pans to wash, nothing that asks much of you beyond waiting. A knob of butter stirred in at the end rounds it out into something that feels like food rather than medicine. Drink it slowly, straight from the mug if that is easier than managing a spoon, and let the rice do the thickening work it is good at.
Ingredients
Contains: Milk, Celery
- 400 mlclear chicken stock, strained clear, or a good stock cube
- 1chicken thigh fillet, skin removed
- 30 gwhite rice, rinsed
- 10 gunsalted butter
- salt
Method
Put the stock in a small pan with the chicken thigh fillet. Bring to a bare simmer.
Stir in the rice, cover loosely and simmer gently for 18 to 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the rice is completely soft and swollen and the chicken is cooked through with no pink left.
Lift the chicken out onto a plate, shred it into small pieces with two forks, discarding any fat, then stir it back into the pan.
Stir in the butter, taste for salt, and pour into a large mug or deep bowl. Eat with a spoon while it is hot.
Watch-points
- The stock is most of this dish, so use one that is clear, strained if it is home-made, with nothing floating in it.
- Simmer the rice until every grain has gone fully soft, with no firm centre left. It should feel closer to porridge than to steamed rice.
Stoma note: A gentle, thickening cupful from the rice and chicken. If your output tends to run loose, this is a good one to reach for. Keep sipping water separately rather than relying on the broth for fluids.
Make it more nourishing
- Stir in a tablespoon of double cream along with the butter.
- Use 2 chicken thigh fillets instead of 1 if you can manage a larger mugful.
- Whisk a teaspoon of skimmed milk powder into the stock before it goes in.
Swaps
- Instead of poaching a raw chicken thigh, use leftover cooked chicken, shredded and stirred in for the last 5 minutes
- the rice still does the thickening work, and there is no poaching to wait for