Strogonoff de Frango (Brazilian Chicken Stroganoff)

Ingredients

• 600 g chicken breast, cut into finger-width strips
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 30 g butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic, minced
• 250 g button mushroom, sliced
• 3 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 7 dl water
• 3 dl heavy cream
• 300 g white rice
• 200 g french fries

Method

1. 1.

   Sear the chicken — Season the chicken strips with the salt and black pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large deep frying pan over high heat and sear the chicken in two batches, 2-3 minutes each, turning once, until browned outside but not yet cooked through. Lift onto a plate with any juices.

2. 2.

   Cook the rice — Rinse the rice until the water runs clear. Bring 600 ml of the water to the boil with a good pinch of salt, add the rice, cover and cook on the lowest heat for 12 minutes, then leave covered off the heat while you finish the sauce.

3. 3.

   Brown onion and mushrooms — Lower the pan to medium, add the butter and cook the onion for 5 minutes until soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic for a minute, then the mushrooms; turn the heat back up and cook 6-8 minutes, until they have given up their liquid and it has boiled away and they start to colour.

4. 4.

   Build the sauce base — Stir in the ketchup, Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce and let them cook for a minute so the ketchup loses its raw edge. Pour in the remaining 100 ml water, scrape the base of the pan clean, return the chicken and its juices and simmer for 4 minutes until just cooked through.

5. 5.

   Finish with cream — Turn the heat right down and pour in the cream. Warm it through for 3-4 minutes without ever letting it boil — a rolling boil splits the sauce into grains. It should coat the chicken in a pale, rosy, spoon-thick sauce. Taste and add salt if it needs it.

6. 6.

   Top with crisp potatoes — Meanwhile bake the french fries at 220°C for 15 minutes until crisp and snap them into short sticks. Fluff the rice with a fork, spoon the stroganoff alongside and finish each plate with a generous handful of the crisp potato on top.