Fragrant brown rice 'porridge' with chilli, lime and rotisserie chicken

Feeds 4-6

This recipe is inspired by a delicious lunch we had a few years ago in London in the middle of winter. Although it's called a porridge it's more like a soupy nourishing risotto (without the cheese) with an Asian vibe. It's all about the toppings and I've added my favourites- store-bought rotisserie chicken, dry roasted peanuts, herbs, chilli and lime.

Fragrant brown rice 'porridge' with chilli, lime and rotisserie chicken Photo: Gretchen Lowe

Ingredients

Porridge

• 1 1/3 cup brown rice, soaked in water for 1 hour, then drained
• 1.5 L chicken stock (low sodium)
• 1 large thumb-sized piece of ginger (unpeeled, sliced in half)
• 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 4 star anise
• 4 bay leaves
• pinch of sea salt
• Cracked black pepper
• Good drizzle of olive oil

Toppings

• 1 cooked chicken, shredded (I used free-range rotisserie)
• 4 radishes thinly sliced
• 1 small red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
• 2 large handfuls of herbs (I used parsley and coriander)
• 1 tbsp black sesame seeds
• ½ cup dry roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
• 1 lime
• Soy sauce or kecap manis*

Method

Place all the porridge ingredients, except the olive oil, in a large pan and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for 35-45 minutes, stirring occasionally and topping up with a little
water if needed.

While the porridge cooks, prepare the toppings as above.

When the porridge is cooked, remove the bay leaves, ginger and star anise, stir in the olive oil
and extra pepper to taste.

Spoon into bowls and top with the shredded chicken, sliced radishes, chilli, herbs, black sesame
seeds, peanuts, juice of a lime and soy sauce/ kecap manis to taste.

*Kecap Manis is a sweet sticky soy sauce from Indonesia and is found in most supermarkets in
the International aisle.