Crispy Fried Chicken with Sticky Five Spice Sauce
The perfect quick dinner, whipped up in under 30 minutes, this fried chicken and sticky five spice sauce will beat the Chinese any day, and at just 1 syn per portion you’re in for a treat!
It’s been ages since I’ve had a proper piece of fried chicken, after all heading down the chippy is hardly a Slimming World friendly move (at least not when you can’t resist cheesy chips anyway!), and whilst I adore the Slimming World KFC and eat it most weeks, you really can’t beat that crispy flour coating once in a while. I was thinking about this, and craving some fried chicken the other day, when I realised I could meet myself in the middle, not just as a treat but as an every day dish for just 1 syn per portion! You don’t have to go the full nine yards with deep fried batter, but you can definitely still enjoy the same flavours and experience with a pan fried piece of chicken dipped in flour! So, that’s what I decided to do, and boy was it amazing! In fact, because it’s just a light coating you end up with a much crispier finish, without oil dripping all over the place!
One of my favourite things to get from the Chinese is crispy chicken pieces, they just go so well with Asian flavours, so the logical thing to make alongside my crispy piece of chicken was a delicious Asian sauce! Five Spice and orange are two flavours that work exceptionally well together, I’m not sure why but they do. I’m not actually a huge fan of Five Spice on its own, but chuck it into a sauce with some orange and a bit of soy sauce and you’ve got yourself a winning dish in my eyes! To make this sauce sticky I’ve used my new favourite Xanthan Gum which is syn free and simply the best thing I’ve bought since I joined Slimming World! You can buy in on Amazon, and a little goes a very very long way so it lasts for absolutely ages! If you don’t have any to hand, you could add a tablespoon of honey to this recipe instead which would make it slightly sweeter and add syns of course, but would still work very well.
My crispy fried chicken, along with the tangy Five Spice sauce, went perfectly on a bed of egg noodles, broccoli and peppers, with some spring onions chucked in there for good measure! I’d have added bean sprouts if my local shop hadn’t run out of them, so if you’ve got them to hand add a handful in there for good measure when you add the broccoli.
One of the best things about this recipe was without doubt the high quality ingredients. I personally prefer fresh veg when it comes to making stir fry as I think they hold their shape and flavour more, although I do adore frozen veg for lots of dishes. The chicken I used was from Muscle Foods, and is available from my exclusive Muscle Foods deal. They’re the biggest chicken breast I’ve ever seen, and I’m never going back to supermarket bought ones…after all at 73p per piece of chicken this dish is a steal!
Serves 2
Crispy pan fried chicken with a tangy Five Spice sauce on a bed of noodles and veg!
30Total Time
Ingredients
- 1tbsp Plain Flour
- Fry Light
- Salt & Pepper (to taste)
- 1tsp Chinese Five Spice Powder
- 3tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1x Chicken Stock Cube
- 100mls Water
- 1/2tsp Xanthan Gum (see post for details)
- 2x Red Peppers (chopped)
- 1x Broccoli (chopped into small florets)
- 5x Spring Onions (finely chopped)
- Fry Light
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.
- Spread your flour out on a small plate, and roll your two chicken breasts in it. 1 tbsp should be enough to lightly coat each one. If you want a thicker coating simply use more and increase the syns.
- Heat lots of Fry Light in a frying pan until the pan is sizzling, and add the chicken breasts. Allow them to cook on one side until crispy and the carefully flip, making sure not to make the coating come off.
- Spray the pan with more Fry Light and make sure to move the chicken breasts into it. Cook until crispy on the other side.
- Transfer the chicken breasts on to a baking tray and pop them in the oven until cooked through.
- Meanwhile, add the juice and zest of the orange to a small sauce pan along with the soy sauce, Five Spice powder and soy sauce and heat over a medium heat.
- When the liquid begins to bubble, add the chicken stock cube and water and stir until dissolved. Sprinkle in the Xanthan Gum and stir until this is incorporated. It will be a bit lumpy to start with but allow it to bubble as your stir and these will soon disappear.
- Boil the sauce until it reaches your desired thickness. Simply add a bit more water if it becomes too thick.
- Set the sauce to one side, in a separate sauce pan bring water to the boil and cook the noodles as per packet instructions.
- Spray the Frying Pan with more Fry Light over a high heat. Add the peppers and spring onions and Fry until the peppers are almost cooked through.
- Add the broccoli and more Fry Light if needed, continue to fry until these are cooked.
- Drain the noodles and mix them with the peppers and broccoli, along with half of the Five Spice sauce.
- Transfer the noodles onto two plates or bowls, and remove your chicken from the oven (which by now should be cooked through).
- Place this on top and drizzle over the remaining sauce.
Notes
This is one syn per portion on Slimming World. Add more syns if using extra flour or adding honey instead of Xanthan Gum
Nutrition
2 Comments
Hayley @ Snap Happy Bakes
31/07/2016 at 7:56 am
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins
01/08/2016 at 3:11 pm