Recipes
British
Spice Bag

Spice Bag

Name: Spice Bag
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 120 g boneless skinless chicken thigh; 2 tsp light soy sauce; 1 tsp Shaoxing rice wine; 1.5 tsp Chinese five-spice powder; 30 g cornflour; 15 g plain flour; 1 egg; 200 g Maris Piper potatoes; 800 ml sunflower oil; 0.5 tsp fine sea salt; 0.5 tsp dried chilli flakes; 0.25 tsp ground white pepper; 0.25 tsp caster sugar; 0.5 onion; 0.5 green pepper; 1 red chilli; 1 clove garlic; 1 spring onion; 1 tsp groundnut oil

Ireland's favourite late-night takeaway: crispy shredded chicken and twice-fried chips tossed with peppers, onion, fresh chilli and a salty five-spice seasoning, all shaken together in a bag. Best eaten straight from the paper with a tub of curry sauce.

Mains Snacks 25g+ protein 8g+ fibre

45 min20 prep · 25 cookMedium1252 kcalper serving

Instructions

Cut the 120 g of chicken thigh into finger-length strips. Toss with 2 tsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp Shaoxing rice wine and 0.5 tsp of the five-spice powder and leave to marinate for 15 minutes at room temperature.
Make the spice bag seasoning while the chicken marinates: in a small bowl stir together the remaining 1 tsp five-spice powder, 0.5 tsp fine sea salt, 0.5 tsp dried chilli flakes, 0.25 tsp ground white pepper and 0.25 tsp caster sugar. Set aside.
Cut the 200 g of peeled potatoes into 1 cm chips, rinse under cold water to wash off the starch and dry thoroughly in a tea towel. Heat the deep-frying oil in a deep pan or fryer to 140C and blanch the chips for 6 minutes, until cooked through and floppy but still pale. Lift out with a spider and drain on kitchen paper.
Bring the oil up to 180C. Dip the marinated chicken strips in 1 beaten egg, letting the excess run off, then dredge in 30 g cornflour mixed with 15 g plain flour, pressing so the coating clings in ragged flakes. Fry in two batches for 4-5 minutes until deep golden and crisp, and the chicken is firm and cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper.