Three-rice and chicken salad, from Ottolenghi’s cookbook

I have a brother in San Fransisco, another brother in Singapore and my parents live in Beirut; we are used to being very far apart from each other, but when something important strikes, we are quick to connect; well,  it happened this weekend when my brother Jean, who lives in Singapore, got my attention by telling me I had  to try this salad! Jean was wrapping up a visit to Japan and he had it in a restaurant there; he liked it so much he managed to retrieve the recipe.

My brother is a gourmet cook, who used to make us venison stew, risottos and fig tarts. When we lived in France, he would  go to the outdoor marché and finger-pinch the geese at the market stalls to see if they were  meaty enough, under the incredulous look of the French butcher.

The recipe is from the Ottolenghi’s cookbook and from a  Japanese blog  that made Ottolenghi’s recipe.

I was dying to make Ottolenghi’s recipe for a reason that is deep to my heart: the success story of the restaurants in the UK and the cookbook is a perfect example of what can happen when an Israeli and a Palestinian collaborate and  work together. It is one of my dreams that this partnership will become the norm, someday.

INGREDIENTS: 8 to 10 servings

• 1 roasting chicken or 4 cups of baked chicken chunks
• 3  large onions
• olive oil, as needed
• 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice, 1/2 cup of olive oil (for dressing)
• 2 Tablespoons of roasted sesame oil
• 1 Tablespoon of Thai fish sauce
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro, leaves chopped fine
• 1/2 bunch of fresh mint, leaves chopped fine
• 1 bunch of green onions, chopped fine
• 3  jalapeños or other chilis, seeded and diced
• 1/2  cup of Basmati rice
• 1/2 cup of brown Basmati rice
• 1/2 cup wild rice
• 1 box of baby arugula

METHOD:

1. Clean the chicken by rubbing it with a cut lemon; sprinkle with salt and pepper all over and rub it all over with some olive oil; roast in a 375F oven till golden all over and cooked through.

1. While the chicken is roasting, cook the Basmati in about 1 1/2 cups of water and  a dash of salt; or use a rice cooker if you’ve got one. Do the same for the brown Basmati and the wild rice, cooking them together in 2  cups of water.
2. While the rice is cooking, heat some olive oil and fry the onions for about 45 minutes over low heat until browned all over and nicely caramelized; to speed this process you can throw in a dash of  sugar in the frying pan.
3. When the chicken is done, cool and cut into  chunks; use a couple of  tablespoons of the chicken roasting juices to moisten the rice mixture.
4. Make a dressing with the lemon juice, sesame oil, fish sauce and olive oil; pour over the chicken chunks and mix a bit.
5. Mix all  of the chicken chunks, caramelized onions, rice mixture,  chopped cilantro, mint, green onions, chopped jalapeños and baby arugula. Serve.