Crisp lemon chicken with jasmine rice

Method

1. Take the chicken escalopes out of the fridge and pat dry with kitchen paper. If any part is thicker than 1 cm, flatten under cling film with the base of a saucepan, without cutting it: even thickness gives even cooking. Dry-toast the sesame seeds in the small saucepan for the sauce over a medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring, until lightly golden and beginning to pop; tip into a small dish. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest of one lemon in 4 wide strips, without the white pith, then squeeze the lemons: you need 60 g juice.
2. Peel the ginger, grate half and cut the rest into 2 slices. Mix the egg, soya sauce, white wine, sesame oil, white pepper, garlic and grated ginger; turn the chicken in the mixture and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Do not salt the marinade: kosher chicken is already salted. In the small saucepan, heat 100 g water with the sugar, 2 g salt, lemon zest strips and ginger slices until the sugar dissolves, then turn off the heat, cover and leave to infuse. Separately mix 8 g cornflour with 20 g cold water.
3. While the chicken marinates, start the rice: rinse in cold water, rubbing the grains, until the water runs clear, changing the water 3–4 times. Put in the lidded saucepan with 300 g water and bring to the boil. Cover and cook over a very low heat for 12 minutes, then rest off the heat for 10 minutes without lifting the lid: it finishes resting while the second escalope fries.
4. Mix the 50 g cornflour, 20 g flour and 1 g salt on a plate. Lift the chicken out of the marinade, let the excess drip off and press both sides into the dry coating. Leave on the rack for 3 minutes to help the crust adhere and discard the remaining marinade. Meanwhile, pour the 350 g oil into the deep-sided 24 cm frying pan, filling no more than one-third of its depth, and heat over a medium-high heat; turn the oven on to 100°C.
5. When the oil reaches 170°C, or a pinch of the dry coating sizzles immediately, add just one escalope and leave it untouched for the first minute. Fry uncovered for 2–3 minutes on each side, until the crust is golden and sounds crisp when touched with tongs, and the centre reaches 72°C; resting brings it to 74°C. Without a thermometer, the juices released when the thickest part is pressed should be clear. If the crust browns sooner, lower the heat rather than cooking for more than 3 minutes per side, which would dry out the breast. Keep the escalope on its rack over a baking tray in the oven at 100°C, or loosely covered with foil if no oven is available. Let the oil return to 170°C and fry the second escalope in the same way.
6. Remove the lemon zest and ginger from the sauce, add 40 g lemon juice and bring to a simmer. Stir the cornflour slurry, pour in while whisking and cook over a medium heat for 1 minute: the sauce becomes translucent and glossy and coats the back of a spoon. Off the heat, add the remaining 20 g juice to keep the acidity fresh, then taste: it should be distinctly sour, clearly sweet and just salty enough to bring out the lemon.
7. Rest the second escalope on the rack for 2 minutes, then cut both into 2 cm strips. Divide the rice and chicken between two plates, drizzle with a little sauce and serve the rest alongside. Scatter over the toasted sesame seeds and spring onion greens.