Chinese 5 Spice Chicken with Soy and Honey
Ingredients:
- 2 chicken thighs and 2 drumsticks, bone in and skin on, ( you can go without skin and/or use chicken breasts if you want to go low cal, just adjust cooking time accordingly), weighed around 600 gms
- Scallions/spring onions or Chives, finely chopped, to garnish (optional)
For the marinade:
- Chinese 5 spice powder, ½ tbsp
- Soy sauce, 1 tbsp
- Honey, 1 tbsp
- Shaoxing rice wine or white wine, 1 tbsp
- Garlic powder, ½ tbsp OR Garlic cloves, finely chopped, 3-4 cloves
- Ginger paste, 1 tbsp (please don’t substitute with ginger power, it has a completely differently flavor profile)
- Red Chili flakes or Pepper powder, ½ tbsp or to taste
- Salt, to taste
- Oil, 1 tsp
Instructions:
Whisk together all the marinade ingredients in a large flat dish. Add the chicken pieces to the marinade and mix well to coat.
Cover the dish and let it rest in the refrigerator for a minimum of 2-3 hours or up to overnight.
Bring the chicken back to room temperature and preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Lightly grease the baking rack with place it on a foil covered baking dish. Arrange the chicken pieces in a single layer on the rack.
Cook uncovered, basting once or twice with the marinade, until the chicken is done, about one hour.
Notes:
- Chinese 5 spice powder is readily available in markets and is normally a blend of equal quantities of ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground star anise , roasted and ground fennel seeds and roasted and ground Szechuan peppercorns. Some blends may also contain nutmeg and ginger.
- The blend is quite potent and may leave a slightly bitter taste if use in excess. Always use a small quantity. ( just like our very own Garam Masala)
