Eat Well For Less Asian-style Sticky Chicken with Chinese Leaf Salad
This delicious Eat Well For Less recipe for Asian-style Sticky Chicken with a light cabbage salad is a budget-friendly recipe that makes a refreshing midweek family meal, with tasty leftovers for lunch the next day.
From the book
Eat Well For Less: Every Day
Budget-friendly family favourites
Easy recipes from the hit BBC series
Quick and simple midweek meals
Introduction
Soy sauce and honey are a classic pairing in the marinade for these sticky chicken thighs, served with a lightly pickled Chinese leaf salad. It can be served hot, but it’s also a great one to serve cold in a packed lunchbox.
Ingredients
| ½ tsp | dried garlic granules |
| 2 tsp | toasted sesame oil |
| 2 tsp | mirin |
| 2 tbsp | soy sauce (use Tamari if avoiding gluten) |
| 2 tbsp clear honey | |
| ½ tsp dried chilli flakes | |
| 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, each cut in half (to form 2 squares) | |
| 6 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced | |
| 2 tsp sesame seeds | |
| 2 limes, cut into wedges | |
| For the salad: | |
| 1 | small Chinese leaf cabbage, shredded (if unavailable use Spring cabbage) |
| 2 | red peppers, deseeded and finely sliced |
| 2 tbsp | rice vinegar |
| 1 tbsp | caster sugar |
| Small bunch | coriander, roughly chopped |
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/Gas 6.
Put the garlic granules, sesame oil, mirin, soy sauce, honey and chilli flakes into a resealable food bag and squish together.
Add the chicken thigh halves and mix/squish around in the bag until completely coated with the marinade.
Tip the chicken pieces onto a small, non-stick baking tray (about 15 x 25cm in size – any bigger and the marinade will evaporate and burn onto the tray), spreading them out in a single layer and pouring the marinade over. Bake in the oven for 15–20 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked through and light golden brown.
Meanwhile, prepare the salad. Tip the Chinese leaves into a bowl, add the red peppers and toss together to mix.
Pour the rice vinegar and sugar into a small saucepan and heat over a medium heat for 1 minute, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has just dissolved. Pour straight over the salad and toss together to combine. The salad will wilt slightly. Leave it to macerate while the chicken finishes cooking. Just before serving, stir the coriander through the salad.
Turn the chicken over in any remaining marinade on the baking tray, then serve with the spring onions and sesame seeds sprinkled over. Finish with the lime wedges to squeeze over the top, and serve the salad alongside.
