Sticky Gochujang Chicken with Sesame Rice

Ingredients

• 8 chicken thighs, boneless and skinless, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 250 g jasmine rice
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 200 g tenderstem broccoli
• 1/2 cucumber, sliced
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 garlic cloves, grated
• 20 g ginger, grated
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp gochujang
• 2 tsp sesame seeds
• kimchi, to serve
• pickled daikon, to serve

Method

1. Get the jasmine rice on first — it needs the longest rest. Cook to the pack instructions, then pull it off the heat, lid on, and leave it to steam quietly for 5 minutes. Fluff through the sesame oil and half the sesame seeds while it's still warm.
2. Whisk the gochujang, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, grated garlic and ginger in a bowl until the glaze is glossy and smooth. Tip in the chicken pieces, season generously with salt and pepper, and toss until every piece wears a thick coat of glaze.
3. Heat a stainless or cast iron pan over a medium-high heat with a splash of oil. Add the chicken in two batches in a single layer — crowd the pan and water comes out, and you'll braise the chicken instead of caramelising it. You want the glaze hitting hot metal and turning sticky.
4. Cook each batch for 10 to 12 minutes, turning regularly, until the glaze is mahogany and lacquered and the chicken is cooked through. Watch the garlic in the glaze as it cooks — once it smells fragrant and the sauce smells of itself rather than raw paste, you're there. Don't let the pan run dry; burnt gochujang turns bitter fast.
5. Once both batches are done, return everything to the pan, splash in a tablespoon of water to loosen the sticky bits on the base, and swirl for 20 seconds until the glaze turns into a glossy pan sauce that coats the back of a spoon. Taste — most of the salt comes from the soy, but a final pinch and a splash of rice vinegar straight from the bottle ties it together if it needs lifting.
6. While the chicken cooks, steam the tenderstem for 3 to 4 minutes until just tender with a little bite — it should still squeak against the knife. Drain well.
7. Stir the spring onions and the remaining sesame seeds through the warm rice.
8. Pile the sesame rice into bowls, spoon the sticky gochujang chicken over with all the glossy pan sauce, and tuck the tenderstem, cool cucumber slices, kimchi and pickled daikon alongside.