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–+ servings

Five Spice Chicken

Kanchan Dilip
Chicken leg quarters marinated in garlic, five spice powder, and sauces and roasted to perfection
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Chinese
Servings 2
Calories 134 kcal

Equipment

  • Indoor grill

Ingredients
 
 

For the five-spice powder:

  • 1 tsp star anise
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp cloves
  • 1 tsp cinnamon powder
  • 1 tsp Szechuan pepper

For the marinade:

  • 2 lean chicken leg quarters (cut up-optional)
  • 5 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 tsp five-spice powder
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • salt to taste
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp black pepper powder
  • ¼ tsp white pepper powder
  • ¾ tsp chili oil

Instructions
 

How to make the five spice powder:

  • Roast and grind all the ingredients together to a fine powder and store in an airtight container or jar.

How to marinate the chicken:

  • Remove the skin of the chicken and trim the fat.
  • Make slits on the chicken and marinate the chicken by mixing all the ingredients of the marinade for at least an hour.

How to grill the chicken:

  • Pre-heat the grill to 350oF. Place the chicken on the grill and cook for one hour by flipping them every 15 minutes.
  • Grill until there is no pink color on the chicken. Garnish with scallions and serve with steamed rice.

Notes

  1. You can use store-bought five spice powder that comes in small bottles.
  2. Oyster sauce can be used, but it is optional.
  3. I like to dry roast the spices for the five-spice for a minute and then cool it completely and then powder them. 
  4. You can stir-fry the chicken by using small bite-size boneless chicken pieces instead of the leg quarters or cut up the leg quarters at the joints into drumsticks and thighs.
  5. Baking in an oven is the other way that I have tried, and it yields a similar taste. Small chunks of chicken take lesser time to bake, grill or stir-fry than the leg quarters.
Other Questions:
  1. What are other uses for the five-spice powder? It can be used in stir-fry vegetables.
  2. What spices can be used as substitutes for five-spice powder? You could use cinnamon, cloves, cayenne powder.

Nutrition

Calories: 134kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 4gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 1011mgPotassium: 191mgFiber: 2gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 26IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 86mgIron: 3mg
Keyword five-spice chicken, five-spice roast chicken
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