Chipotle-glazed chicken bites over poblano rice

Name: Chipotle-glazed chicken bites over poblano rice
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 10 oz chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces; ½ cup long grain white rice; ¼ cup cornstarch; 3 tbsp full-fat Greek yogurt; 2 tsp canned chipotles in adobo, minced; 2 tsp honey; 1 yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced; 1 poblano, seeded and thinly sliced; ¼ cup cilantro sauce, or cilantro blitzed with lime and oil; 2 tbsp cotija, grated; neutral oil, salt, pepper

Cornstarch, not flour, which is the only reason the crust survives the glaze.

At a Glance

Time

30 min

Serves

Story

Cornstarch, not flour, and it is not a substitution. Flour has gluten, which sets into a bready jacket that goes soggy the moment a wet sauce touches it. Cornstarch has none, so it fries into a thin glassy shell that stays crisp even after the chicken has been tossed through a glaze, which is exactly what this dish asks it to survive.

Ingredients

10 oz chicken breastcut into bite-size pieces
½ cup long grain white rice
¼ cup cornstarch
3 tbsp full-fat Greek yogurt
2 tsp canned chipotles in adobominced
2 tsp honey
1 yellow onionhalved and thinly sliced
1 poblanoseeded and thinly sliced
¼ cup cilantro sauceor cilantro blitzed with lime and oil
2 tbsp cotijagrated
neutral oilsalt, pepper

Make it yourself Everyday cilantro sauce

Method

The chicken is fried, then tossed in the sauce off the heat. Have the sauce mixed before the oil is hot, because the tossing happens immediately.

Rinse the rice until it runs clear, drain and cook in a pot with 1 cup water and a big pinch of salt: boil, cover, low, 13 to 15 minutes. Off the heat, fluff, cover.
Whisk the yogurt, honey, 1 teaspoon warm water and as much chipotle as you want in a large bowl. Season.
Pat the chicken dry, season, then toss with the cornstarch until every piece is dusty and dry-looking.
Thin layer of oil in a medium nonstick pan on medium-high. When a pinch of cornstarch sizzles instantly, add the chicken in one layer, shaking off the excess. Undisturbed 3 to 4 minutes, then stirring 3 to 4 minutes, until browned and cooked through.
Straight into the bowl of sauce and stir to coat. Leave the fond in the pan and pour off the oil.
Same pan, a drizzle of oil, the onion and poblano, seasoned. 5 to 7 minutes, until softened and browned at the edges. 2 tablespoons of water in, scraping, until it cooks off. Tip into the rice with the cilantro sauce and stir.
Rice into bowls, the glazed chicken over, cotija on top.

A swap worth knowing: the original builds the glaze on mayonnaise. Greek yogurt carries the chipotle and honey just as well, and the crisp was never coming from the sauce. It comes from the cornstarch.

On the pass