Sichuan chicken with okra
This spicy Sichuan chicken is served with freshly cooked okra, peppers and cashews.
Ingredients
For the marinade
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
For the Sichuan chicken and okra
- 4 chicken thighs, boneless, skin removed and cut into chunks
- 12 okra
- 30ml/1fl oz white wine vinegar
- large pinch sea salt
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ onion, thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 red pepper, seeds removed and thinly sliced
- 15 dried red chillies
- 2 fresh red chillies, diced
- 2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
- 100g/3½oz cashew nuts
- 2 spring onions, roughly chopped
For the sauce
- 1–2 tsp chilli paste
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice wine
- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
Method
To make the marinade, mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl and stir in the chicken. Leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
To prepare the okra, toss the okra with the vinegar and salt and leave to marinate for 30 minutes. Remove, rinse in fresh water and slice into chunks.
Put a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the vegetable oil, then cook the dried chillies for 1–2 minutes. Add the onion with the garlic. Fry for another couple of minutes, then add the pepper and okra and cook for another 5–6 minutes. Add the chicken and fry for another couple of minutes – when the chicken has some colour on the outside, add the fresh chilli, Sichuan peppercorns and cashews. Cook until the chicken is cooked through.
Mix all of the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and add to the pan. Add the spring onions at the end. Toss everything in the sauce, and serve immediately.
