Vietnamese-Style Shiitake Mushroom Brown Rice Bowl & A Chicken Breast

Rinse your brown rice, add it to a pot with plenty of cold water and bring to the boil over a high heat

Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium and cook for 20-25 min or until it's tender with a slight bite

Once cooked, drain, return it to the pot and keep covered until serving

Added chicken? Cook at 220°C / 200°C (fan) / gas 7 for 18-20 min

Top, tail, peel and chop your carrot[s] into matchsticks

Wash your lettuce, then pat it dry with kitchen paper and shred finely

Slice half your red chilli[es] into rounds and finely chop the rest

Tip: Not a fan of spice? Remove the seeds!

Peel and finely chop (or grate) your garlic

Bash your pulled shiitake mushrooms with a rolling pin to break them up

Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a generous drizzle of vegetable oil over a medium-high heat

Once hot, add the bashed pulled shiitake mushrooms with a generous pinch of salt and cook for 5-6 min or until browned, breaking them up with a wooden spoon as you go – these are your pulled shiitake mushrooms

While the mushrooms are cooking, zest half your lime[s] (try to grate lightly with a micro-plane or sharp box grater and avoid grating the white pith, as this is very bitter)

Chop the lime[s] in half

Crush your roasted peanuts with a rolling pin

Tip: If you don't have a rolling pin, just chop them roughly!

Add the finely chopped chilli (can't handle the heat? Go easy!) to a bowl with the juice of the chopped lime[s], half your soy sauce, half the chopped garlic (you'll use the rest later!), 3 tsp [4 1/2 tsp] [6 tsp] sugar and 3 tbsp [4 1/2 tbsp] [6 tbsp] cold water

Give everything a good mix up – this is your Vietnamese-style dressing

Once the pulled shiitake mushrooms have browned, add the remaining soy sauce, remaining chopped garlic and lime zest to the pan

Stir it all together and cook for a final 1 min or until fragrant – these are your Vietnamese-style pulled shiitake mushrooms