June’s Chinese Chicken with Asian Greens

June’s Chinese Chicken with Asian Greens

June was my Mum and this was her only foray into Chinese cooking. She used to make it with chicken wings and serve it as a starter for her dinner parties in the 70s. I’ve simplified it since then and turned it into more of a main course by using chicken drumsticks.

enough for 2
takes: 60 minutes
6-8 chicken drumsticks
1/2 cup soy sauce
2-3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon ground ginger or 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 bunch bok choy or other Asian greens or broccolini

1. Preheat your oven to 180C (350F).

2. Combine soy, honey & ginger. Place chicken in a baking dish and cover with the sauce. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes.

3. Remove foil and turn the chicken. Return to the oven. Wrap bok choy in foil and place on a lower shelf in the oven.

4. Bake for another 20 minutes or until chicken is well browned and the bok choy has wilted.

Variations

vegetarian / vegan – try Chinese mushrooms. Cook field mushrooms instead of the chicken. You might like to add some cashews as you serve to increase the protein. I’m also thinking tofu or tempeh would be lovely with all the flavours from the sauce. And if you don’t eat honey a little brown sugar or maple syrup would work.

more substantial – serve with steamed rice or cauliflower ‘rice’ (raw grated cauliflower).

different cuts of chicken – feel free to use chicken thighs instead or a whole chicken chopped into pieces on the bone both of these options will take about the same time to cook. Boneless chicken breasts or thigh fillets will also work, reduce the cooking time to 20-30 minutes.

different protein – You could use fish fillets (will take about 15 minutes or a little longer). Lamb shanks, pork ribs or beef osso buco will take about 3-4 hours cooked at 160C (350F).

hot! – add in some fresh or dried chilli.

short on time – use chicken breast or thigh fillets and increase cooking temp to 250C (480F). Should be done in 20 minutes.

low carb – skip the honey or reduce to 1-2 teaspoons.

Waste Avoidance Strategy

chicken drumsticks, fresh ginger – freeze

soy sauce, honey, ground ginger – pantry

bok choy or other Asian greens or broccolini – will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks at least. Freeze if you need to keep for longer.