Sheet-Pan Turmeric Chicken and Crispy Rice

Amarante

Fri, Feb 02 2024, 12:41 pm

This was an easy sheet pan recipe. I made a double batch of rice and just kept it in the refrigerator for the next day

Sheet-Pan Turmeric Chicken and Crispy Rice

Yield: 4 servings

Source: Melissa Clark

A layer of crunchy, golden rice at the bottom of a pan is revered across many cultures, be it a Persian tahdig, Korean nurungji or Spanish socarrat, and you can get a similar result by baking oiled rice at high heat on a sheet pan. Here, bone-in chicken legs are coated in a mix of turmeric, ginger and garlic and nestled into a pan of scallion-Messed short-grain rice. As it all roasts, the spiced chicken fat seasons the rice, which turns especially crisp where it meets the edges and bottom of the pan while staying soft and chewy on top. Dabbed with more turmeric-ginger mixture at the end, it’s a richly flavored and textured chicken and rice dish all made in one pan.

INGREDIENTS

¼ cup fresh lemon juice, plus more for serving
6 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
2 tablespoons fresh ginger (from 1 2-inch piece), finely grated or minced
3 teaspoons kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal or use 1 ½ teaspoons coarse kosher salt, such as Morton), more as needed
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks
5 cups cooked short-grain rice (such as sushi rice, see Tip)
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems

PREPARATION

 Place sheet pan on middle rack in oven and heat oven to 450 degrees.

 While the oven is heating, marinate the chicken. In a large bowl, combine lemon juice, garlic, ginger, 1½ teaspoons of the salt, turmeric, coriander and pepper, and mix well. Transfer 1 tablespoon of the turmeric-ginger mixture to a small bowl and set aside for serving. To the large bowl, add chicken and toss until the pieces are well coated; let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. (I marinated the chicken in the morning and left in the refrigerator) Make sure to reserve the tablespoon at this point as you will need to use it to thin it and mix into the cooked rice just before serving

 While the chicken is marinating, toss the cooked rice with the remaining 1½ teaspoons salt, scallion whites and 3 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil (the best way to do this is with clean hands). Add a little more oil if needed to fully coat the rice so that it crisps up in the oven.

 Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the chicken pieces, tossing well to coat.

 Use a large spoon to carefully spread the rice out on the hot sheet pan, then make divots in the rice for the chicken, making sure the sheet pan is exposed. Place chicken, skin side up, in the divots touching the pan. Drizzle the rice and chicken with a little more extra-virgin olive oil.

 Roast until the chicken is deeply browned on top, cooked through and the rice is crisp at the edges, 40 to 50 minutes.

 Stir a little more lemon juice and olive oil into the reserved turmeric-ginger mixture to thin it out. Use a spoon to dab or drizzle it onto the rice (not the chicken). Stir up the rice on the baking sheet, so the crisp parts get mixed into the soft part of the rice, and the turmeric mixture gets distributed. (Taste rice and add a little more oil, lemon juice and salt if necessary; rice can take a lot of seasoning.) Top everything with scallion greens and chopped fresh cilantro, and serve.

TIP

If you want to substitute long-grain rice, watch it carefully; it browns (and can dry out) more quickly than plumper grains of short-grain rice.

Last edited by Amarante on Fri, Feb 02 2024, 12:58 pm; edited 1 time in total