Chinese five spice is a mixture of different spices primarily used in Asian cuisine. It usually includes five of the following: cloves, sichuan pepper, fennel, star anise, cinnamon, cumin, ginger, nutmeg. What I love about it is the diversity of flavours. It's a combination of sweet, spicy, smoky etc. It is used to create one of my fave Chinese dishes BBq Pork. Yum!
I didn't bother to buy a pack of Chinese Five Spice powder, instead I just used the spices I had in my cupboard to make my own combo. I prefer to do that because I want to control how much of each spice is used. I've added a sticky glaze to complement the dry rub.
INGREDIENTS:
3 - 4 chicken breasts, seasoned with salt and black pepper
My Chinese Five Spice ingredients:
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 ground cloves
1 1/2 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp ground star anise
1 1/2 tsp cumin
Spiced Honey Glaze ingredients:
1/3 cup water
1 Tablespoon soya sauce
1 Tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2-3 whole cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup Tablespoon honey
pinch of salt
METHOD:
Preheat oven 375 degreesF.
Combine all the Five Spice ingredients in a bowl and coat the chicken thoroughly.
Grease and heat an ovensafe pan over low-medium heat then cook the chicken breasts on both sides over for 4 mins . I use an ovensafe cast iron grill pan but feel free to use any oven safe pan.
In a small saucepan simmer the sauce ingredients over a medium heat till reduced and thickened.
Brush the chicken generously with the sauce and complete cooking in the oven for about 20 - 25 minutes.
Remove chicken from the oven. Rest it for at least 3 minutes then slice each piece.
Serve hot with the sauce drizzled all over.
YIELD:
4 - 5 servings