3 Reasons why its heart healthy:
- Making this homemade version will likely be much lower in salt than if you bought it from your local Chinese takeaway.
- Serving with brown rice increases the fibre content by 1 to 2 grams per portion, a diet rich in fibre supports heart health.
- Adding a side of vegetables to any meal is a great way to boost fibre content, the broccoli here compliments the meal wonderfully and adds an additional 1.5g amount of fibre.
Crispy Chilli Chicken
This is a healthier alternative to the popular Chinese dish, perfect for a Friday night fakeaway. Soy Sauce usually gives this dish the salty, umami flavour but this recipe uses coconut aminos which can contain up to 80% less salt than soy sauce, if you can’t find this in your local shops, many retailers online stock it.
Servings
4
servingsPrep time
10
minutesCooking time
50
minutesIngredients
500 g chicken breast, chopped into bite size strips
1 egg, beaten
4 stalks Tender stem broccoli
1 fresh chilli, deseeded and sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 x ½ juiced and the remaining half to serve in wed
3 spring onions, thinly sliced
380 g brown rice
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp corn flour
3 tbsp coconut aminos
160 ml water
Directions
- Begin by cooking your brown rice as per the packet instructions
- Prepare all your ingredients as per the ingredients list. Cut the chicken into bite sized strips, deseed and slice the chilli, mince the garlic, juice ½ the lime and cut the remaining half into wedges. Finally, wash the tenderstem broccoli and wash the spring onion before slicing it.
- Steam your tenderstem broccoli or cook however you prefer.
- While the rice and broccoli are cooking, put the chicken pieces in a large bowl and add the beaten egg, stir to coat all the chicken then add 3 tbsp of the corn flour and mix everything up.
- Put a frying pan on a medium/high heat and add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Cook the chicken, turning once until golden brown (you might need to do this in batches depending on the size on your pan). Once cooked set aside the chicken.
- Using the same pan, reduce the heat and add the garlic and chilli and cook for 2 minutes. While the garlic and chilli are cooking add the final 1 tbsp of corn flour to a small bowl, add 2 tbsp of cold water and mix to form a paste – this is a cornflour slurry.
- Add the sweet chilli sauce, lime juice, coconut aminos, cornflour slurry and 160ml water to the pan. Heat for a few minutes until the sauce thickens, then add the chicken back into the pan and mix everything up.
- Serve your chicken over a bed of brown rice, topped with the chopped spring onion and a side of tenderstem broccoli.
