My 124th recipe with the Wednesday with Donna Hay group is Twice-Cooked Crispy Chicken, was chosen for the group by Peggy, and is found in Donna Hay's book Off the Shelf on page120.
The ingredient list: soy sauce, Chinese Rice Wine, brown sugar, chicken stock, star anise, cinnamon stick, chicken breast filets with skin on, and peanut oil.
My favorite thing in cooking is not frying anything. Guys here have known for years and years that if they want fried food, they must score it on the streets, so to speak. It's messy, not particularly good for you, and just isn't something I enjoy making or eating. That said, I figured maybe I should attempt this recipe as a good group member as the frying commitment seemed rather minimal, so that I did.
It was messy (the frying part) but the rest of it went together very quickly and all in all, the whole procedure wasn't terrible. I did like the sauce that the chicken was poached in for the first part of the recipe...I used all the ingredients in the measurements she stated, so I was really happy with the flavor this sauce and the flavors it imparted into the chicken. After I took the chicken out of that pan to put into the next pan for the frying part, I reduced the sauce a bit and used it to pour over the Chinese greens as suggested in the recipe, dribbling some on the chicken and rice as well.
The sauce was flavorful and gave the whole dish an interesting and exciting Asian twist for an ordinary chicken breast. Would I make this again? Nah...I don't like frying things, but I would poach the chicken in that sauce and eat it that way. It would be ideal in chicken lettuce wraps, always a favorite of mine. So, yes, I would make the part that wasn't fried again as we did enjoy the flavors and it was a nice meal with the Chinese greens and rice.
Wonder what the others thought? You can find that by clicking here. Next week is Glennis's choice for the group, Quinoa, Kale, and Salmon Sushi Rolls with Wasabi-Tofu Mayonnaise found in Donna Hay's cookbook Fresh & Light on page 80. Join us and leave a link to your post at the website by clicking here, no commitment required.