Serves 4 - 10 minutes prep, 35 minutes in the oven
The Right Spice Spice Spotlight: Chinese Five Spice
Five spice is one of the great spice blends of the world — star anise, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper, and fennel seed ground together into something extraordinary. It's warm, slightly sweet, deeply complex, and it transforms ordinary chicken into something that tastes like it came from your favorite Chinese restaurant. The best part? It's not spicy or hot at all. It's warmly aromatic, completely kid friendly, and practically impossible to mess up.
What you'll need:
- 4-6 bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
- 1½ tsp Chinese five spice powder (from your Right Spice pouch)
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil (find it in the Asian aisle of any grocery store)
- 1 tbsp honey or brown sugar
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated (or ½ tsp ground ginger)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- Salt to taste
- Steamed white rice to serve
- Sliced green onions to garnish
Here's what you do:
- In a bowl whisk together the soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, and five spice powder. This is your marinade and it smells absolutely incredible.
- Add the chicken thighs to the marinade and turn to coat completely. If you have time, let them marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature or up to overnight in the refrigerator. Even 15 minutes makes a noticeable difference.
- Preheat your oven to 400°F. Heat vegetable oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from the marinade (reserve the marinade) and place skin-side down. Sear for 3-4 minutes until the skin is golden and starting to caramelize. Flip once.
- Pour the reserved marinade over the chicken. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is sticky and lacquered.
- Baste the chicken with the pan juices once halfway through. When done the skin should be deep golden and the sauce reduced to a gorgeous glaze.
- Serve over steamed white rice with the pan juices spooned over everything. Garnish with sliced green onions.
Right Spice note: The pan juices from this chicken poured over rice are what your family will talk about. Spoon every bit over the rice before serving. Share a photo of your dish and tag us @rightspiceshop
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