I grow a lot of my own veg, what I don’t I get from my local Green Grocer ‘Robbie’ but right now I am in veg nirvana – my purple sprouting broccoli is now….well…..sprouting! It went into the raised beds last July which seems like a lifetime ago but its been well worth the wait….it is friggin’ incredible! I have a huge soft spot for stem broccoli cooked (I only really like the other flower-head broccoli shaved raw into a salad) and this is a dish I have been literally waiting 10 months to create…Sichuan chicken and broccoli with oyster sauce  – some of you eagle eyes will have noticed this blog title is the other way around 🙂

WHAT YOU NEED – serves 2

4 large chicken thighs

A good handful of purple sprouting broccoli

1 tps Sichuan pepper corns – crushed

100mls chicken stock

2 tbs Chinese rice wine

1 tbs sesame oil

2 tbs Oyster sauce

1 clove garlic minced

Salt flakes

2 tps Chinese 5 spice

HOW YOU DO IT

 This is a speedy dish – 10 minutes will do it start to finish so plan to have whoever need around the table right from the get go!

STEP1: Kick off by finely slicing the chicken (use thighs, more flavour and cheaper), sling into a bowl then season with Sichuan pepper, rice wine, oyster sauce, sesame oil, garlic, 5 spice and a good pinch of salt flakes.

STEP2: Add a couple of lugs of veg oil into a wok and bring up to ‘screaming’ hot then add the chicken and stir fry until just about cooked.

STEP3: Then add in the broccoli and vigorously continue the stir frying adding the chicken stock a little at a time to encourage a sauce – you may not need all of it so stop when the broccoli is just, just tender and you have a working sauce.

Serve straight away with a  scattering of sesame seeds and some Bruce Lee noodles

FEEL LIKE A BEER? TRY THIS:

SINGHA