Do I Need To Precook The Barley For Chicken Barley?

Our answer

Nigella's Chicken Barley (from AT MY TABLE) is a warming cross between a soup and a stew, made with chicken, vegetables and pearl barley. The ingredients simmer together for 1 hour, before the chicken bones are removed and the dish is served.

You should not need to precook the pearl barley as pearl barley usually needs 30-40 minutes of cooking to soften. In addition, the starches from the barley help to slightly thicken the stock. Pearl barley has been hulled and then polished to remove the bran, so it cooks quickly. But make sure you do have pearl barley and not pot barley, as pot barley has had the hull removed but is not as polished and still has some of the bran. Pot barley needs much longer cooking than pearl barley, so isn't particularly suitable for this recipe.