Trini-Chinese chicken boasts serious spice
Don’t say you weren’t warned: This bird gets hit by hot sauce, fresh ginger and lime juice
New York Times food writer Sam Sifton begins his new cookbook See You on Sunday (Penguin Random House, $47) with 13 ways to make lively meals out of chicken parts.
Today’s recipe calls for serious spicing; Sifton uses Chinese five-spice powder on the chicken and puts Scotch bonnet pepper sauce in the dipping sauce. The recipe is inspired by the Creole cuisine of Trinidad and Tobago.
Thighs are Sifton’s favourite chicken part for both moisture and flavour. Forget about washing raw chicken as long as you cook it to an internal temperature of 165 F (74 C), which kills bacteria, he says. Verify this with a digital instant-read thermometer.
Sifton recommends a salad play “a supporting role” alongside the chicken; he suggests “super greens” such as baby kale, chard, arugula, spinach and perhaps bok choy.
The dressing should be three parts oil to one part acid such as lemon juice or sherry vinegar, thickened with mustard, cheese or mayonnaise.
See You on Sunday offers 200 recipes designed for entertaining a crowd with ease. Photographs by David Malosh make Sifton’s fine book exceptional.
TRINI-CHINESE CHICKEN
2 five-spice tbsp (30 powder mL) Chinese 8 to 10 chicken thighs, legs and wings (about 3 lbs/1.5 kg) 3 or 4 limes 3 tbsp (45 mL) soy sauce 2-inch (5-cm) piece fresh ginger, peeled, minced 1/2 cup (125 mL) oil (canola or grapeseed are recommended) 2 tbsp (30 mL) sesame oil 1/2 cup (125 mL) oyster sauce 1 to 3 tbsp (15 to 45 mL) Scotch bonnet pepper sauce (sriracha or sambal oelek could be used instead) Freshly ground pepper 1/4 cup (60 mL) chopped green onions
Measure Chinese fivespice powder into a large bowl, add chicken parts and toss to season each piece of chicken.
Add juice of two of the limes, the soy sauce and the ginger. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or up to a full day.
Remove chicken from refrigerator and bring to room temperature. Combine the two oils in a large, heavy frying pan over medium-high heat. You should have about 1/4 inch (6 mm) of oil in the pan.
When oil is hot, remove chicken from marinade, letting marinade drip from the chicken back into the bowl. Fry chicken, in batches to avoid crowding, turning the pieces frequently, until well browned and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes per batch. Remove from pan and keep warm.
Meanwhile, make the dipping sauce. In a medium bowl, combine the oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of the hot pepper sauce and the juice of the third lime, stirring to combine.
Taste and add more hot sauce, lime juice and pepper to taste.
Serve chicken on a heated platter, trimmed with a little of the sauce and the green onions. Serve the remaining sauce on the side.
Serves: 4 to 6