Chikin Raisu (チキンライス, ketchup chicken rice)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide frying pan or well-seasoned skillet
• •Rice paddle or wooden spatula
• •Small bowl for loosening and holding the cooked rice

Instructions

1. 1

   Loosen the rice

   Break the cooked rice apart with wet fingers or a rice paddle before it goes near the pan. Cooled short-grain rice likes to hold together, and if you try to crush the clumps in the skillet, you bruise the grains and make them sticky. You want the rice ready to be coated, not beaten into obedience.

   Freshly cooked rice can be used, but spread it on a tray for ten minutes first. Letting surface moisture escape keeps the finished chikin raisu separate and glossy.
2. 2

   Cook the chicken

   Set a frying pan over medium heat and add the oil and butter. When the butter foams gently, add the chicken with a pinch of salt. Cook until the pieces lose their raw pink color and begin to smell savory, about three minutes. Small pieces cook quickly and season the rice evenly, which is the quiet virtue of this dish.

3. 3

   Soften the onion

   Add the diced onion and cook, stirring, until it turns translucent and sweet, three to four minutes. Don't brown it hard. Chikin raisu wants sweetness and butter, not a roasted flavor that fights the ketchup.

4. 4

   Cook the ketchup

   Push the chicken and onion to one side of the pan. Add the ketchup to the bare spot and stir it there for about one minute, until it darkens slightly and loses its raw sharp smell. Then stir in the Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. Cooking the ketchup first concentrates it, so the rice tastes seasoned rather than simply wet.

   This is the first secret. Ketchup straight from the bottle is sweet and bright; ketchup cooked briefly in butter becomes round enough to carry the rice.
5. 5

   Coat the rice

   Add the loosened rice and raise the heat to medium-high. Fold and press lightly with a rice paddle or wooden spatula until every grain is red-gold, two to three minutes. Scrape the bottom as you work, but don't mash. The rice should look glossy and separate, with chicken and onion scattered through it rather than buried.

6. 6

   Finish and serve

   Stir in the peas just long enough to warm them, then taste for salt and white pepper. Shape the rice into a low oval mound on a warm plate, sprinkle with parsley if using, and serve at once. If you're making omurice, this is the rice you wrap. If you're not, it still has nothing to prove.

Chef Tips

• •Use chicken thigh if you can. Breast works, but thigh stays tender in the short frying time and gives the rice a little more depth without any extra fuss.
• •Choose Japanese short-grain rice, cooked a little firm. Long-grain rice separates easily, yes, but it misses the soft chew that makes chikin raisu feel like the dish we eat here.
• •A small amount of soy sauce belongs in the background. It doesn't make the rice taste of soy; it steadies the ketchup and gives the butter something savory to hold.
• •If the rice looks pale, cook another teaspoon of ketchup in a bare spot before folding it through. Don't squirt cold ketchup over finished rice. That brings back the raw bottle taste you just cooked away.
• •For omurice, cool the finished rice for a few minutes before wrapping it in egg. Very hot rice steams the omelet from underneath and makes the surface slack.

Advance Preparation

• •Cook the rice earlier in the day, or use rice from the day before. Keep it covered in the refrigerator, then loosen it gently before frying.
• •The chicken and onion can be cut up to one day ahead and kept refrigerated in separate covered containers.
• •Finished chikin raisu keeps one day refrigerated. Reheat it in a lightly buttered pan rather than a microwave if you want the grains to regain their gloss.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 280g)