Pan Fry Your Chicken Thighs Like This

Chicken Thighs with Oyster Pan Sauce, Miso Cabbage & Garlic–Ginger Broccoli 🍗🥬🥦
Serves 2

Chicken
4 skin-on thighs • 3 tbsp oyster sauce • salt
1️⃣ Season skin generously. Start in a cold dry stainless pan on medium-low.
2️⃣ As the skin browns (Maillard reaction), it’ll release naturally.
3️⃣ When golden, brush with oyster sauce and roast 5 min at 180°C (core temp around 75°C or higher). Rest under foil or keep warm in the oven with the door ajar at roughly 40°C.

Pan Sauce
Shallot • garlic • ginger • 80ml dry vermouth • 1 tsp light soy • ½ tsp fish sauce • 1 tsp rice vinegar • 1 tsp mirin • 200ml chicken stock • 2 tsp lime juice • 3 tbsp cold butter
1️⃣ Sauté shallot till translucent, then add garlic and ginger.
2️⃣ Deglaze with vermouth and reduce until jammy.
3️⃣ Add sauces, vinegar, mirin; cook for 1 min.
4️⃣ Add stock and reduce until it traces with a spatula.
5️⃣ Off the heat, add lime juice and cold butter; swirl to emulsify.

Miso Crème Fraîche Cabbage
1 sweetheart cabbage (quartered) • splash of mirin and rice vinegar • 100g crème fraîche • 2 tbsp white miso • 1 tsp sesame oil • ginger • lime juice • herbs • salt
1️⃣ Char cabbage on grill or pan.
2️⃣ Braise three-quarters submerged with mirin and vinegar until tender.
3️⃣ Blend remaining ingredients to make a herby miso crème.
4️⃣ Spoon between leaves and sprinkle furikake.

Garlic–Ginger Broccoli
125g tenderstem • avocado oil • chilli oil • garlic • ginger • 1 tbsp soy • 1 tsp dark soy • 1 tsp mirin • 1 tsp sesame oil • 1 tsp starch • 2 tbsp water
1️⃣ Mix sauce.
2️⃣ Sear broccoli for colour; remove.
3️⃣ Add chilli oil, garlic and ginger; cook gently for 3 min.
4️⃣ Return broccoli, pour in sauce, cover and steam for about 1 min.

I’m going to pan fry some chicken with just two ingredients. No oil in the pan, skin side down and cold. If this works, it’ll be the juiciest thing you’ve ever eaten. Salt two skin on chicken thighs per person. Lay them skin side down in a cold pan with no oil. We’re going to start cooking them on a low heat to render out the fat. They will stick, but this way of cooking is very measured and nonstressy, so hang tight, and as that fat renders, they’ll brown off and release from the pan naturally. When they’re lovely and golden, turn them over and paint with a generous amount of oyster sauce. Then they go into the oven for 5 minutes at 180 Celsius. When they come out, make sure to leave a towel on the handle of the pan to remind you it’s hot. Now, I like to base them with some fat for no other reason than it’s satisfying and it makes them nice and glossy. So, all it took was some salt and some oyster sauce. And you can serve these with whatever you like. Now, but you know, I love a pan sauce. So, I’m going to put those on to rest or I’m going to put them in a 50 C oven to keep them warm. And then I’m going to turn my attention to this beautiful flavor in the pan. I’m going to add in some diced shellots and I’m going to cook them until translucent. Then you’re going to add in some minced ginger and garlic. Cook those out for about a minute and then delaze with some dry vermouth. It’s got wonderful herby notes that go beautifully with the oyster sauce. Reduce that until it’s a bit jammy and then add in some light soy sauce, some dark soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and some mirin. Cook that out for about another minute or so before adding some chicken stock. Reduce it until the spatula traces through like this. And then finish off with some fresh lime. Turn the heat off and add in some cold butter straight from the fridge. Keep the pan moving and it will emulsify beautifully. Taste the seasoning and adjust as you like. Now, you could strain this sauce to make it smooth, but I like to go straight onto the plate, followed up by the chicken. Earlier, I made some hespy cabbage by cutting them into quarters and then frying them on both sides in some olive oil. Then, I got them into a pan of water to braze with some salt, some rice wine vinegar, and some mirin. I cook these for a total of 20 minutes with the lid on or until the core is tender. These can be done ahead of time, and they’re easily reheated, so you can even do a few more than you need. Now, I’m going to save this brazing liquid and I’m going to use it in a moment. Then, I’m going to make a beautiful herbed cream. So, I’m going into a blender with some creme fresh, followed up with some white miso, toasted sesame oil, minced garlic, and ginger, lime juice, parsley, coriander, salt, and I’m going to blend that until smooth. We’ll get that into a bowl and put it to one side. So, now with this brazing liquid, I’m going to cook the rice. I use 1 and 1/2 times the water to rice by weight. So, bring that to a light boil, turn the heat right down, and leave the lid on for about 10 minutes. Then, I’ll turn the heat off. Still with the lid on. After another 5 minutes, I have this lovely fluffy rice seasoned with the brazing liquid. Finally, in a bowl, I’ll add some light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, mirin, toasted sesame, cornstarch, and a touch of water. Tender stem broccoli goes into olive oil on a medium heat, and I’m going to turn that as it browns. I’ll take that out, follow up with some chili oil, and I’ll toast off some freshly minced garlic and ginger. The broccoli then goes back in, followed by the sauce I just mixed, and then I turn the heat down to low. The lid goes on and cook until tender, which doesn’t take long at all, maybe even just a minute. To plate these, I’ll add my herbed cream to a few layers of the cabbage. And I’ll top that with some furkakei seasoning. Rice then goes on, followed by the broccoli.