One-pot koji roast chicken with garlic and ginger rice

Put the chicken on a large plate or ceramic dish and rub the koji all over, both inside and out. Leave on the bottom shelf of the fridge, uncovered, ideally for 24 hours, or a minimum of 8. This marinates and tenderises the meat, and leaving it uncovered dries the skin to make it crisper on roasting.

When you are ready to cook, heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 and soak the rice in a large bowl of cold water.

Rub the sesame oil all over the chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper and stuff the ginger slices and spring onions into the cavity. Place in a deep cast-iron casserole and roast in the oven, lid-off, for 15 minutes per 500g of chicken weight – so a 2kg chicken needs 1 hour, a 1.5kg chicken needs 45 minutes. After 40 minutes, check to see if the chicken is getting too dark on top. If it is, cover with the lid or a piece of foil and continue to roast.

Remove the chicken from the casserole and rest temporarily on a plate. Add the shallots to the casserole, along with the grated ginger and crushed garlic and fry on the hob over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Drain the rice from its soaking water and stir through the shallot and garlic mixture. Pour over the hot chicken stock and stir to mix. Place the chicken back on top of the rice and cover with a tight-fitting lid and pop back in the oven for 30 minutes more. Take out of the oven, remove the lid and rest, covered with a clean tea towel, for another 10 minutes, to allow any excess moisture in the rice to be soaked up.

Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and fork the rice through lightly to separate the grains before serving the chicken. Sprinkle over the rest of the spring onion and the chillies, if using, and serve with a big bowl of watercress and julienned cucumber and a bottle of soy sauce to drizzle.