Sticky Asian BBQ chicken with sweet corn rice and red cabbage slaw

If the weather permits, then cook the chicken on a barbecue, for that smoky woody charcoal flavour. If not, you can bake it in the oven, as I have here.

Credit: Lorraine's Fast, Fresh and Easy Food

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 800 g mixed chicken wings and drumsticks

Sauce

• 6 squidges of tomato ketchup
• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp five spice powder
• 2 squidges of honey
• 1 garlic clove
• few sprigs fresh thyme
• sunflower oil

Slaw

• ¼ head red cabbage
• 1 small red onion
• 1 small red chilli
• 1 big handful of raisins (about 25g /1 oz)
• pinch of English mustard powder, optional
• 2 squidges of honey
• 5 scant tbsp Greek yogurt (full fat, low fat or no fat)
• 1 lime

Corn rice

• 350 g (12 oz) easy cook long grain rice
• 198 g can sweetcorn
• sunflower oil
• 30 g bag of coriander or flat leaf parsley

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F / Gas Mark 6).
2. Scatter the chicken pieces into a large roasting tin. Put the tomato ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce, five spice and honey in a small bowl. Peel and finely chop the garlic and run your fingers down the length of the thyme sprigs to release the leaves and add them both along
3. with salt, pepper and a drizzle of oil. Give everything a good stir and pour it over the chicken pieces. Toss everything about to evenly coat, settle the chicken into a single layer and put in the oven to cook for 30 minutes.
4. Next, put the kettle on to boil for the rice.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the slaw. Remove the woody core from the cabbage and then slice it up as fine as you can and put it in a large bowl. Peel and finely slice the red onion and halve, deseed and finely chop the chilli and throw these in along with the raisins, mustard powder (if using) and honey. Spoon the yogurt in, squeeze in the lime juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix everything together and set aside.
6. Tip the rice into a medium pan with a little salt, pour the now boiled water so that it is about 2 cm above the top of the rice, put the lid on and bring back to the boil. Then turn it down as low as it will go and leave to cook for as long as it says on the packet.
7. Baste the chicken with the sauce.
8. Once the rice is ready, drain it and then tip it back into the pan. Drain the sweetcorn and add it to the rice with salt, pepper and a drizzle of oil. Stir together and then put the lid on to keep warm.
9. After the chicken has had 30 minutes, check to see that it is cooked, it should be piping hot in the middle with no pinkness. The BBQ sauce should be a sticky coating on the chicken.
10. Divide the rice between serving plates, arrange the chicken on top and spoon the slaw to the side. Rip the leaves from the coriander or parsley, scatter them over and serve.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.