Marmite chicken

45 MINUTES + CHILLING + SALTING + MARINATING SERVES 4 | EASY

Just like soy sauce and balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and marmite is an umami-bursting combination. This recipe was inspired by a recent trip to Malaysia, where a similar nyonya dish is ubiquitous. I tweaked it though, increasing the Marmite kick and making it less sweet. This is one of my favourite recipes.

boneless chicken thighs 500g, skin on garlic 1 clove, crushed soy sauce 1 tbsp sunflower oil for deep-frying

Japanese katakuriko (potato starch)

or cornflour 4 tbsp (see ingredients notes) spring onions thinly sliced on the diagonal to make 2 tbsp

SWEET CUCUMBER AND WAKAME PICKLE

rice vinegar 160ml

granulated sugar 120g

cucumbers 2 large, thinly sliced

sea salt 2 tbsp

red chilli 1 large, thinly sliced

dried wakame seaweed 2 tbsp (see ingredients notes)

MARMITE AND SOY SAUCE

Marmite 2 tbsp dark soy sauce 2 tbsp mirin 8 tbsp (or use 4 tbsp runny honey mixed with 4 tbsp water) sake or shaoxing rice wine 4 tbsp

• To make the sweet cucumber pickle, combine the vinegar, sugar and 160ml water in a pan and bring to a boil over a high heat. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for 1 hour. Put the cucumber slices in a colander over a bowl and rub the salt all over them until they are completely covered. Put a plate with a weight on top over the cucumber slices and leave for 1 hour, then squeeze as much water as possible out of the cucumber slices, but do not rinse them. Add the cucumber and chilli slices to the cooled rice vinegar mix and let them pickle for at least 2 hours.

• Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, put in a bowl, add the garlic and soy sauce, mix well and leave for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.

• 20 minutes before serving the pickles, soak the dried wakame seaweed in a bowl of cold water for 2-3 minutes, drain, squeeze out the water and roughly chop any large pieces of seaweed. Add the wakame to the pickle mixture and mix well. The pickle is ready to be served and any leftovers can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to one month.

• Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the Marmite and soy sauce until the Marmite is dissolved.

• Fill a pan no more than 1/3 full with sunflower oil and heat to 170C or until a cube of bread browns in 40 seconds. Coat the chicken in potato starch or cornflour, shake off any excess flour and carefully add the chicken to the pan in batches. Cook the chicken for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through, then drain on a plate lined with kitchen paper.

• Add the Marmite and soy sauce to a pan, heat it through to burn off the alcohol and until it is slightly thickened, then add the chicken pieces and mix well to coat them in the sauce. Serve immediately topped with the spring onions and the cucumber pickle on the side.

PER SERVING 402 KCALS | FAT 16G SATURATES 4G | CARBS 27.4G | SUGARS 18G FIBRE 1.6G | PROTEIN 32.1G | SALT 3.9G