Crispy chicken

We are just loving chili crisp and honey—it feels like every other meal at home is prepared with it. I’m using it to marinate both chicken and pork, tossed with noodles in a stir fry, or with rice. My intention here was to make a simple one-pan chicken and rice dish that I could simply toss together and bake with minimal effort, and that’s what I would have done if I had boneless, skinless thighs or breasts. Since I only had bone-in with skin I had to sear it first because I love crispy skin. I could have even left it all on the stove in the pot to cook, but I wanted the skin to stay crispy so I baked the chicken on top of the rice. Usually, it’s the chicken that’s flavoured with the honey chili, but I put it in the rice instead. The result was super delicious rice with crispy skin chicken, with the meat melt in your mouth from braising in the rice.

Baked chicken and chili crisp rice

3 lbs. bone-in chicken thighs

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons canola oil

8 oz. cremini mushrooms, diced

4-6 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup chili crisp

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 1/2 cups long grain rice

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

3 to 4 green onions, sliced

Preheat oven to 400°F. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet and sear chicken, skin side down, turning over once skin is golden brown and cook another minute or two. Remove from pan and set aside, continue until all the chicken is seared. In the same pan; add the mushrooms and cook until soft, add garlic and cook for another minute until garlic is fragrant. In a small bowl, stir together soy, honey, chili crisp, butter and paprika. Stir sauce mixture into pan along with rice and stock.

Bring to a boil and then scrape into a 9×13- inch glass baking dish. Put chicken on top of rice and bake in oven for one hour or until rice is tender. Sprinkle with green onions and serve.

Makes 6-8 servings