As often as I make them, you’d think I really like soup. Truth is, they’re far from my favorite thing. I often find them too watery and bland, and generally uninteresting. Thankfully, aside from a missing pinch of flour, this spicy chicken stew is quite satisfying.
If you’re not a fan of spice, the spice level is highly customizable. You can use less or no hot sauce, no cayenne, or less black pepper as well. I like things moderately spicy, and the called-for amounts are pretty ideal for me.
I originally made this with 1 lb of chicken, which ended up being extreme, so I officially recommend 12 ounces instead. I also recommend adding a bit of flour to the onion/rice while it’s heating to give the soup some extra body.
Aside from the food, I wanted to mention something that’s a bit of an “elephant in the room”. Whenever I post something, I like to have both empirical and metric measurements for the ingredients. That way, more people have easy access to great food, which is really what I aim for.
Unfortunately, some ingredients are very lightweight, and sometimes you just don’t need much of something. Since my kitchen scale only measures to whole grams, weighing things can be difficult at best, and even impossible.
This is especially true of spices. Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed recipes wanting things like “a small pinch of oregano” instead of a gram amount. Since oregano is very light – and is often used in very small amounts – my scale usually doesn’t even read 1 gram upon weigh-in.
This situation is when I ask for things like a pinch of this, or a small pinch of that. For reference, I may ask for small, “regular”, and large pinches. A “regular” pinch if a standard two-finger pinch, with a small pinch being half that. A large pinch is a moderate three-finger pinch. A large pinch if roughly half a teaspoon, making regular and small pinches quarter and eighth teaspoons, respectively.
I’ve been meaning to mention this for a while, but I usually have recipe-relevant things to say; and making a whole post for this felt excessive. Since I didn’t have much to say here, and this recipe has a lot of spices, it felt like a good time to explain the elusive “pinch” system.
If you like this recipe for spicy chicken stew, consider checking out my split pea soup which, while not as spicy, still has a decent kick.
Ingredients
12 ounces boneless skinless chicken*, 340 grams
2 Tbsps vegetable oil, divided, 28 grams
1/2 cup diced yellow onion, 76 grams
1/2 cup short-grain rice, 110 grams
1/2 cup corn kernels, 80 grams
4 cups chicken stock or broth, 908 grams
1 Tbsp sugar, 15 grams
2 large pinches of chili powder, about 1 tsp
large pinch of cumin, about 1/2 tsp
large pinch of paprika, about 1/2 tsp
pinch of dry cayenne, about 1/4 tsp
1/2 tsp kosher salt, 3 grams
large pinch of black pepper, about 1/2 tsp
Hot sauce, as needed**
Preparation
Preheat a large pot or sauce pan over medium-high heat. Cover your chicken with half your oil, then cook until well-browned on both sides. Set aside.
Lower your heat to medium and add your remaining oil, onion, spices and rice and cook for ~5 minutes. Add your remaining*** ingredients, then cover and cook until the rice is done. I recommend serving with some nice, crusty bread.
Notes
*This will work with pretty much anything, but I recommend using a dark meat, like thighs.
** You’ll want to use something with a strong vinegar motif. The one I used is quite spicy, and I used several strong dashes. I recommend adding a bit here, then more at the end if needed.
*** This may include the chicken. If using dark meat, throw it in with everything else. If using white meat, like breast meat, throw it in towards the end. If you add white meat now, it will surely be overcooked by the end.
Whatever you use, don’t forget to dice/chop/shred it up before adding it in. It (probably) won’t be cooked through when you cut it, which is fine – the browning in the pan was the real goal. Also, if the pan gets too dry during the onion/rice step, just add a splash of the broth to loosen things up.
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