relish bowl

the sauce can be made a few days in advance.
pickles can be made the same day but they won't be quite as tangy.
prepare the sushi rice, cauliflower and chicken fresh when you want to eat, they take about 1 hour to prepare.

chicken
4 chicken thighs
1tbsp grapeseed or vegetable oil

cauliflower
1 head of cauliflower
2 cloves garlic - pressed
grapeseed or vegetable oil

sushi rice 
2 cups sushi rice
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar

cilantro for serving

refrigerator pickles
1 cucumber
1 fennel bulb
4 carrots

nuoc cham - vietnamese sauce
1tbsp lime juice
1tbsp sugar
1tbsp fish sauce
3tbsp water
1 clove garlic - pressed
1/2 thai chili - sliced thin

combine ingredients
this sauce will keep for a week in the fridge

sushi rice
this method of cooking rice prevents the rice from clumping together. it's important to stir minimally until the end when we add the vinegar and sugar.

rinse the rice thoroughly, until the water runs clear
soak the rice for 30 minutes in 4 cups water
strain the rice and rinse again
add the rice and 2.5 cups water, bring to a boil then simmer
when rice is done, remove from heat. don't stir it
combine rice vinegar and sugar and stir until dissolved
dump the rice into a large bowl and sprinkle the vinegar/sugar over it
stir minimally, just enough to coat the rice.

cauliflower

use the bottom rack in the oven so that you can use the top rack for the chicken (below)
mix cauliflower with oil and garlic and spread on a cookie sheet
roast at 425 for about 30 minutes, stirring once or twice

chicken
once the cauliflower is in the oven, prep the chicken.
coat each thigh with grapeseed/vegetable oil
heat an oven-proof pan on medium/high and sear chicken for 2 minutes
flip and put the pan in the oven for 15 minutes until chicken is cooked.

serve
place about 1/4 of the of cooked rice in each bowl
sprinkle rice with cilantro
arrange pickles on top of rice/cilantro
add 1 sliced chicken thigh to each and pour approximately 2 tbsp of sauce on top.
add some cauliflower to each bowl
this recipe makes 4 big servings.