29 Firecracker chicken Paul Robinson

Firecracker chicken

prep: 20 minutes marinate: 2 hours cook: 20-25 minutes
4 people

Ingredients

for the chicken
4 x 150g Norfolk chicken breasts, sliced into 1cm thick slices

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 red chilli, seeds removed and chopped finely

2 tbsps sriracha chilli sauce

4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

4 tbsps light soft brown sugar

3 tbsps light soy sauce

2 tbsps dark soy sauce

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp tamarind paste

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 pinch of white pepper

for the stir-fry

2 tbsps vegetable oil, for cooking
1 large white onion, peeled and quartered

6 dried árbol chillies, finely chopped

1 habanero chilli, finely chopped

1 red pepper, seeds removed, sliced into thick batons

1 green bell pepper, seeds removed, sliced into thick batons

120g mangetout

1 bunch of spring onions, roughly chopped

for the rice

350g basmati rice

sea salt

to serve

2 tsps black sesame seeds, toasted

Method

To marinade the chicken, place all the ingredients, apart from the chicken, in a bowl and mix well together. Add the chicken slices and mix well. Cover the dish with a lid or cling film and place in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours or ideally overnight.

To cook the rice, wash the rice to remove any starch. Add 650ml water to the rice in a pan, season well with salt and bring to the boil. Stir well, place the lid tightly on top, turn off the heat and leave the rice to soak up the remaining liquid. When ready fluff up the rice with a fork for serving.

To cook the chicken, remove it from the marinade. Heat up a little vegetable oil in a large frying pan or wok over a medium to high heat until very hot. Add the chicken and brown on each side. Add the onion quarters and finely chopped chillies and soften for 90 seconds. Add the marinade and bring to a boil, then add the peppers and mangetout and cook for another 90 seconds. Finally, just before serving, add the chopped spring onions.

To serve, spoon some basmati rice into a bowl and top with the firecracker chicken. Sprinkle with toasted black sesame seeds.