Salt and Chilli Chicken

This Salt and Chilli Chicken is a quick and easy dinner packed with flavour thanks to the six different spices used to create a totally mooreish make at home Chinese favourite.  It's fragrant, tender and with just the right amount of spice to wake up your tastebuds.  Just like this Thai Garlic Chilli Chicken.

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Spice Mix Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

The Heat:  Dried Chilli Flakes are essential.  Any variety will work.

The Flavour:  Onion Salt, Garlic Salt and Sea Salt are responsible for the flavour and that moreish mouthfeel you get that makes you want to keep eating more

That Little Extra Punchiness and fragrance: Ground ginger and Chinese five spice are responsible for that additional flavour lingering in the background that's not saltiness, and not heat.  These are the spices that bring the combination together.

What Type Of Chicken To use: I used chicken breast for this recipe, cut into generous chunks.  Alternatively you could also use skinless chicken thigh cut into chunks if you prefer.

How To Make This Dish

1. Make The Spice Mix: Add all ingredients in the spice mix to a large bowl and stir to mix together. Transfer half of the spice mix to a smaller bowl for later (Half of the spice mix will be used at the end). To the larger bowl of spice mix, add the cornflour/cornstarch and stir through.
2. Prepare Egg Wash and Dip the Chicken: Wisk the egg whites and 1 tablespoon soy sauce in a bowl. Dip the chicken pieces thoroughly in the egg wash, then in the spice bowl that contains the cornflour/cornstarch. Repeat until all chicken pieces have been coated in egg wash and spice mix.
3. Heat up the Wok: Meanwhile heat a wok on the stovetop on high heat, with approx. 3 - 4 cm of oil in the bottom.
4. Cook the Chicken: Add chicken pieces to the wok, cooking in batches for approx. 4 minutes or until golden brown. Once cooked, remove from wok and set aside on a plate lined with paper towel/kitchen paper.
5. Add Veges and aromats to Wok: Add chopped onions, red and green capsicums/pepper, chili and crushed garlic to wok. Stir through 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar and remaining 1 tablespoon Soy, cook until vegetables are just beginning to soften.
6. Put it all together: Add the cooked chicken to the wok, along with the second half of the spice mix and one small packet of pre cooked noodles, and toss through.
7. Serve immediately. (Sesame seeds and fried shallots optional)

How Spicy Is This Dish?

The amount of chilli used in this recipe makes the chicken what I would call mild to medium.  When you eat the chicken you can definitely taste a little bit of heat, but its not overpowering.

If you're used to eating curries, that's what I'm basing this off.  If you're OK with a mild to medium curry, the level of heat is comparable.

Maybe you might like to use this Sugar Free Sweet Chilli Sauce as a side or for extra flavour as well.

Make It Spicier

• Instead of the standard ½ teaspoon of dried chilli flakes, increase to 1 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes.
• No need to adjust the level of onion, garlic and sea salt.
• This combination will produce a solid medium level of spiciness. 

Make it Milder

• Instead of the standard ½ teaspoon of dried chilli flakes, decrease to ¼ of a teaspoon of dried chilli flakes.
• Decrease the amount of onion and garlic salt by half also.
• This combination will produce a low intensity mild level of spice, suitable for those who don't like it not

TIP:  For a twist you could  replace the chilli with another thing, like, say parmesan or sesame seeds or a combination of both.

Variations

1. Less Carbs:  Instead of packet noodles, you could use zucchini noodles.
2. Lower fat:  Lay the chicken pieces out on a baking tray and spray with coconut oil and bake for 15 minutes. 
3. More Veges:  Add broccoli and snow peas to the mix as well.  (Probably no need for noodles then)
4. Make it go further:  Add a second packet of noodles or add more veges

Tips For Success

1. Avoid Freezing:  this dish will loose its crispyness if frozen and reheated
2. Makes Great Leftovers:  Reheat and eat in the microwave at work for a delicious lunch the next day
3. Use the right oil:   I prefer Coconut oil for it high smoke point and it doesn't leave the chicken greasy or oily.  Alternatively you could also use Peanut oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, sunflower oil, rice bran oil and extra light olive oil. 
4. Hot Oil in a Wok :  Make sure its hot before you put the chicken in. Warm oil will leave the chicken greasy and unpleasant.  A wok is best as it has a small base for the oil to sit.
5. Don't overcook the chicken:  Because we are shallow frying the chicken it will cook quickly as the oil is super hot.
6. Taste:  Once everything is in the wok and you've added the last of the salt and chilli mix, do a taste test to see if it is right.  Does it need more soy, more salt, more heat, more freshness (a hint of lemon maybe)

How Else To Use This Spice Mix

Steak:  Press steak into spice mix both sides before cooking on a hot pan, making sure its well oiled before hand.

Fish:  Lightly sprinkle fish with spice mix  - not too much as you don't want it to overpower the delicate flavour of the fish.

Turkey Breast:  Follow the same instructions as for the chicken, making sure the turkey breast is 1cm in thickness.

Meatballs:  Use the spices, minus breadcrumbs to add into your meatball mix for some salt and chilli meatballs.

That's the cool thing about spices that I'm discovering.  The versatility.  You only need to know a few good ones, and you can use them in heaps of ways to create different dishes. 

And you can make a big quantity of this spice mix and store it in an air tight container to use as you need it. Not only can you make a delicious salted chilli chicken, but you can easily make salted chilli meatballs, turkey, fish or steak!

More Quick and Easy recipes

• Honey Chilli Chicken With Cashews
• Sticky Chilli Beef and Broccoli
• Thai Basil Chicken Stirfry
• Easy Cashew Nut Chicken

Salt and Chilli Chicken

Kim MorrisKim

Utterly mooreish tender seasoned chicken breast pieces with a winning combination of salty, savoury, spicy, and sweet, on the table in 20 minutes.

4.56 from 9 votes

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Course Dinner

Servings 3 people

Calories 445 kcal

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Ingredients

 

½x1x2x3x

• ▢ 500 grams/1 pound Chicken Breast - chopped into large thick strips
• ▢ 2 egg whites
• ▢ 1 medium Brown onion - chopped into large chunks
• ▢ 1 medium Green Capsicum/Pepper - chopped into large chunks
• ▢ 1 medium Red Capsicum/Pepper - chopped into large chunks
• ▢ 1 medium Long Red Chilli - diced
• ▢ 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
• ▢ 2 tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar
• ▢ 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
• ▢ 4 tablespoons Coconut oil
• ▢ ½ cup Cornflour/Cornstarch or Tapioca Starch
• ▢ 1 packet pre-cooked Noodles - (eg: Wokka singapore)

Spice Mix

• ▢ 2 teaspoons Dried Red Chilli Flakes
• ▢ 2 teaspoons Sea salt
• ▢ 2 teaspoons Chinese Five Spice
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Garlic Salt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Onion Salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon Ground ginger

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Instructions

 

• Make The Spice Mix: Add all ingredients in the spice mix to a large bowl and stir to mix together. Transfer half of the spice mix to a smaller bowl for later (Half of the spice mix will be used at the end). To the larger bowl of spice mix, add the cornflour/cornstarch and stir through.
• Prepare Egg Wash and Dip the Chicken: Wisk the egg whites and 1 tablespoon soy sauce in a bowl. Dip the chicken pieces thoroughly in the egg wash, then in the spice bowl that contains the cornflour/cornstarch. Repeat until all chicken pieces have been coated in egg wash and spice mix.
• Heat up the Wok: Meanwhile heat a wok on the stovetop on high heat, with approx. 3 - 4 cm of oil in the bottom.
• Cook the Chicken: Add chicken pieces to the wok, cooking in batches for approx. 4 minutes or until golden brown. Once cooked, remove from wok and set aside on a plate lined with paper towel/kitchen paper.
• Add Veges and aromats to Wok: Add chopped onions, red and green capsicums/pepper, chili and crushed garlic to wok. Stir through 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar and remaining 1 tablespoon Soy, cook until vegetables are just beginning to soften.
• Put it all together: Add the cooked chicken to the wok, along with the second half of the spice mix and one small packet of pre cooked noodles, and toss through.
• Serve immediately. (Sesame seeds and fried shallots optional)

Notes

1. Use the right oil:  I prefer Coconut oil for it high smoke point and it doesn't leave the chicken greasy or oily.  Alternatively you could also use Peanut oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, sunflower oil, rice bran oil and extra light olive oil. 
2. Hot Oil in a Wok : Make sure its hot before you put the chicken in. Warm oil will leave the chicken greasy and unpleasant.  A wok is best as it has a small base for the oil to sit.
3. Don't overcook the chicken: Because we are shallow frying the chicken it will cook quickly as the oil is super hot.
4. Taste: Once everything is in the wok and you've added the last of the salt and chilli mix, do a taste test to see if it is right.  Does it need more soy, more salt, more heat, more freshness (a hint of lemon maybe)

Make It Hotter

• Instead of the standard ½ teaspoon of dried chilli flakes, increase to 1 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes.
• No need to adjust the level of onion, garlic and sea salt.
• This combination will produce a solid medium level of spiciness. 

Make It Milder

• Instead of the standard ½ teaspoon of dried chilli flakes, decrease to ¼ of a teaspoon of dried chilli flakes.
• Decrease the amount of onion and garlic salt by half also.
• This combination will produce a low intensity mild level of spice, suitable for those who don't like it not

Nutrition

Calories: 445kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 44gFat: 20gSaturated Fat: 12gFiber: 3gSugar: 4g

Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners. Calories have been calculated for your convenience using My Fitness Pal and are based on the ingredients listed in the recipe card.

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