Ping Coombes’ baked honey and soy chicken rice recipe

“Welcome to your new favourite one-pot rice dish!” says Ping Coombes. “I have been looking at ways to add more fibre into my rice dishes to make them more balanced. What I ended up with is a dish that has flavour, texture and fibre from the lentils and sweetcorn.”

Baked honey and soy chicken rice

Ingredients:

(Serves 4)

5 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs

1tsp vegetable oil

2tbsp butter

2 garlic cloves, crushed

300g jasmine or basmati rice

1tbsp chicken stockpowder

380ml water

160g canned sweetcorn

340g canned green lentils

20g chives, chopped, to garnish

For the marinade:

3tbsp pineapple juice

1tbsp honey

1tbsp light soy sauce

1½tsp dark soy sauce

½tsp sesame oil

½tsp five spice powder

½tsp ground ginger

Method:

1. Score the top of the chicken thighs a couple of times so that the marinade penetrates deeper into the chicken and place in a bowl. Add all the marinade ingredients and marinate for at least 30 minutes at room temperature or in the refrigerator overnight.

2. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan or Gas 6.

3. In a large ovenproof pan, heat the oil over a medium heat. Add the chicken thighs to the pan, skin-side down, and fry for five minutes to brown the skin. Flip the chicken over and pour over the marinade in the bowl. Cook for two to three minutes to reduce the marinade a little, then remove the chicken to a plate.

4. Add the butter, garlic and rice to the pan and give it a good stir, then add the chicken stock powder, water, sweetcorn and lentils. Stir again to distribute the ingredients evenly in one layer. Nestle the chicken thighs into the rice mixture, cover with a lid and bake in the oven for 35 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven and let it stand for five minutes before serving.

Rice by Ping Coombes (Murdoch Books, £26) murdochbooks.co.uk, is available February 12.