One pot Asian-poached chicken

I cooked this tasty poached chicken dish in one pot. No really, just one pot. 

I made the poaching liquid for the chicken, and as it was so tasty, I thought I'd throw the noodles into the pot to cook as well. Instead of being cooked in plain boiling water, the noodles took on the delicious flavour of the chicken and other poaching ingredients. The broccoli, I placed on the top of the chicken to steam towards the end of the cooking process. 

And there you have it, my one-pot poached chicken. I have written previously about the wonderful texture of poached chicken. I won't go on about it again, but if you've never tried to cook a chicken breast like this, give it a try.

What you'll need

Serves 2

2 large chicken breast, skin on (but it doesn't matter so much if the skin is removed)

100g dried Chinese noodles of your choice - I used egg noodle nests

100g broccoli (or vegetable of your choice)

Poaching liquid

2 cups chicken stock or water

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 small red chilli, finely chopped (or more if you'd like it spicier)

1 medium tomato, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon Mirin

Juice of one lime

1 clove garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

Thumbnail piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped into two pieces (for flavour rather than eating)

Sesame seeds for serving.

What to do

Make the poaching liquid. In a medium-sized pot, add all the poaching ingredients above and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Once simmering, reduce the heat to low and add the chicken breast. The liquid should be about 2/3 up the way of the chicken breast. If not, add some water until it is. 

Place the lid on and poach for approximately 20 minutes. Then turn the chicken over and replace the lid. Cook for another 10 minutes. The chicken should now be cooked. You can check by making a small cut into the thickest part and looking if the meat is white. If it is still pink, cook for another 5 minutes. Set aside to keep warm.

Bring the liquid in the pot back to a simmer. Now add the noodles to the pot. The noodles I used were in nests, so they fitted well into the pot. If your noodles are long, you may need to break them of stir them until they soften and will fit into the pot. Once all the noodles are submerged in the poaching liquid, replace the lid and cook for 10 minutes until the noodles are soft. 

Reduce the heat back to low. Place the chicken back into the pot, add the broccoli on top, place the lid on and steam the broccoli for a few minutes until cooked to your liking. 

Serve the noodles onto a plate, placing the chicken alongside and then the broccoli. Spoon out some of the poaching juices onto the noodles and chicken. Sprinkle the chicken with sesame seeds if you like.

Enjoy your meal, and your lack of washing up.