Chinese Chicken and Broccoli

Hi, this recipe is from Tesco's January 2022 magazine, page 10 or find online here. From this issue, I have already made the meatball shakshuka, if you are interested.

This Chinese Chicken and Broccoli was really tasty and had a very nice flavour from the hoisin sauce. My family are new to hoisin sauce and have discovered a few recipes that we enjoy using it in, one being this dish. I liked the chicken being in with the broccoli instead of as a side as it picked up more flavours in the dish too.

You can very easily adapt this recipe with whatever you have in terms of protein and veg, the sauce coating it should remain the same if possible though and then you can still get the delicious hoisin and soy sauces flavour. Some suggestions for chicken replacements: turkey, pork, beef or lamb for meat options, or chickpeas, lentils, veggie ch*cken strips or alternative with cashews for some extra protein and flavour too (my parents' suggestion). Some vegetable suggestions: carrots, sweet potato, different types of broccoli, baby sweetcorn, sugar snap peas, cauliflower or courgette.

Enjoy!

Hazel :)

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Dietary Info:

-Unsuitable for Vegans

{In place of the chicken, use whatever alternative you like really: chopped up vegan 'sausages' or 'burgers' or whole 'meatballs'. Use vegan 'chicken' strips such as What the Cluck or Garden Gourmet. Use cubed tofu, seitan or tempeh (make sure to use some seasoning with these or buy pre-seasoned ones e.g. smoked tofu). Or use a tin or two of chickpeas or lentils. For the chicken stock, substitute for vegetable stock. And, if you don't eat honey use maple syrup instead.}

-Unsuitable for Vegetarians

{See above.}

-Contains Sesame

{Use a different type of neutral oil e.g. ground nut oil, olive oil, sunflower oil or vegetable oil. Top with golden flax seeds instead.}

-No Nuts

-Dairy-Free

-Contains Gluten

{Many brands have gluten-free soy sauces now, so buy one of those and don't worry if it's a dark soy sauce (mine was) as it will work fine.}

-Main Meal

Serves: 4

Takes: 30mins

Ingredients:

-300g long-grain rice

-700g broccoli, cut into bite-sized florets

-2tbsp light soy sauce​ {I used dark soy sauce.}

-2tbsp hoisin sauce

-1/2 lime, juiced​ {I used a glug of lemon juice from a bottle, probably about 1tbsp.}

-2tsp clear honey {I used 2tsp of a maple and sugar syrup blend as we had no honey.}

-1tsp crushed chillies {I used chilli powder.}

-1tbsp cornflour

-1/2tsp ground white pepper {I used black pepper.}

-1/2 chicken stock cube, made up to 200ml, left to cool

-1tbsp sesame oil {I used extra virgin olive oil, any neutral oil will work fine in its place. However, sesame oil will give the most traditional flavouring.}

-400g boneless chicken thighs, cut into 3cm pieces

-100g bunch spring onions, thinly sliced

-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped​

-6cm piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped

-1tbsp sesame seeds

Method:

1: Cook the rice to pack instructions, then cover the pan to keep warm. {I have a rice cooker which makes cooking rice very easy and simple, it even has a keep warm setting on it too.} Meanwhile, steam the broccoli for 6-8 mins until just tender. Whisk the soy, hoisin, lime juice, honey, chilli, cornflour, pepper and stock in a bowl, then set aside. {Try to get the cornflour dissolved in the stock so it's easier to pour later.}

2: Heat the sesame oil in a large frying pan {I used a wok.} until very hot. Sear the chicken for 1-2 mins, without moving, until lightly browned. Stir and cook for another 2-3 mins until browned on all sides and cooked through. Transfer to a plate. {It may take a little longer depending on the thickness of your chicken.}

3: Set 2tbsp spring onions aside {I just set aside 1 big spring onion to chop later for garnish.} and add the rest to the pan along with the garlic and ginger. Cook for  2 mins, stirring frequently, until fragrant and just softened.

4: Reduce the heat to medium-low, stir in the soy sauce mixture, then cook for 2 mins to thicken. Add the cooked chicken and broccoli to the pan and gently coat in the sauce. Divide the rice between 4 plates; top with the chicken and broccoli. Scatter with the sesame seeds and reserved spring onions to serve. {I also served with some spinach on the side, it was a nice extra that I would recommend you try.}

While you're here...

I have a Pinterest for all my recipes, where you can save them to boards for the future and categorise them into different types of recipe e.g Sunday Dinners, picnic ideas etc. My account is @hazellikestocook, or find the link below. Also, I have a whole blog post explaining this in more detail here and https://hazelscookingandbakingblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/pinterest.html. 

https://pin.it/5xDvARk - my profile

This recipe:

https://pin.it/36zZQEm