Chef critique
Cilantro Chicken Stew with Sweet Corn
While this one-pot chicken stew features a good cooking method and properly seasons the meat, the broth is severely underseasoned, the cilantro loses its fresh appeal during a long simmer, and the upfront prep list violates formatting rules.
Score: 6/10
Suggested fixes
- Increase the salt added to the vegetables in Step 4 to at least 2½ tsp Morton kosher salt to properly season the broth and vegetables.
- Remove the bulleted prep list in Step 2. Instead, describe the preparation of each ingredient in the prose of the steps where they are added to the pot (e.g., "Add ½ cup diced yellow onion..." in Step 4).
- To preserve the cilantro's flavor and color, add all of it at the end as a garnish, or instruct the cook to blend half the cilantro with a splash of water and stir the puree into the stew during the final 5 minutes of cooking.
Issues
- high / flavor: The vegetables, rice, and water are severely underseasoned. Adding only ¾ tsp Morton kosher salt to approximately 1.45 kg of water, vegetables, and grains yields a salinity of about 0.25%, leaving the resulting broth quite bland.
- medium / clarity: The large bulleted prep list in Step 2 groups all the ingredients together before active cooking begins. This violates the formatting standard, which requires bullet lists to be placed where the ingredients enter the action rather than grouped as an upfront mise-en-place list.
- medium / flavor: Boiling chopped cilantro for 28 minutes starting in Step 5 will destroy its delicate, fresh flavor and turn the leaves an unappetizing brown.
Strengths
- Accurately seasons the bone-in chicken thighs with an appropriate salt percentage for the meat's weight.
- Correctly targets 175°F for bone-in chicken thighs to achieve a tender, silky texture.
- Efficiently utilizes one pot for a complete stovetop meal.