LOW CARB SPICED CHINESE STYLE CHICKEN

Low Carb Spiced Chinese Style Chicken is a healthy choice for a mouth-watering ketogenic dinner. 4g carbs per serving.

There is more than one way to skin a cat (please don’t do that!). When you think of chicken you usually start imagining oven roasting, deep fat frying or a barbecue. While all of these methods are good, I personally don’t like them.

Poultry that is oven roasted can get quite dry unless you can be bothered to baste the bird frequently as it cooks. Basting means opening the oven, getting hot steam in your eyes, reaching into the hot cavern and trying to tilt the roasting pan so you get enough juice onto your spoon or ladle to pour on top of your meat, without burning your hands in the process.  It is also a great waste of fuel. Then you have the chore of cleaning the blasted oven, which is the worst job in the world.

Deep fat frying is always a no-no for me. It is undoubtedly the worst way to cook food.

The only fats I will eat without reservation are organic butter, cold pressed virgin coconut oil and extra virgin olive oil.

Raw, or in cooking as long as they are not allowed to reach their smoking point, they are the healthiest options. Not good for deep fat frying, however, as they have relatively low smoking points. So, on the very rare occasions that I need to deep fry, (who doesn’t love fried calamari?) I buy peanut oil. Although I abhor refined vegetable oils because the idea of petroleum solvent extraction (a chemical process that is used to extract oil from whatever raw ingredient) gives me the heebie-jeebies, I consider peanut oil to be the best of a bad bunch.

Yes there are some cold-pressed, organic, blah blah, cooking oil alternatives being proposed, but they are prohibitively expensive, plus they tend to have high concentration of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which makes them unstable when heated. Aside the oil health and free radicals issues, I have a general problem with greasy food. And deep fat frying delivers just that: unhealthy grease that makes my stomach churn – literally – for days. This is my body’s way of warning me not to consume fried food and it sure knows best.

Barbecues are great. Who doesn’t love a barbecue when the sun is shining and the air is warm? But there are perils with those too. And no, I’m not referring to the changeable British weather. The problem with barbecued meat is that cooking it on such high heat produces extra HCAs and PAHs, which are known carcinogens. Therefore, as much as it pains me to say this, it would be best not to have barbecues every day just to take advantage of the annual two-week British summer.

One other method that is very common is to sauté chicken pieces. Definitely one of my favourite ways of cooking. The problem is that it’s a very quick, high heat method. Excellent for stir frying because you use small meat pieces, but larger chunks of meat don’t have enough time to absorb cooking flavours, so in order to yield good results you need to marinate the meat overnight. Not always practical.

This low carb spiced Chinese style chicken recipe produces a melt-in-the-mouth result without failure.

Everyone knows that I am a fan of long, slow cooking. This dish calls for medium, slow cooking. 45 minutes total time. You will end up with chicken that is like butter (almost) in your mouth. Not rubbery, Not chewy. Not dry. Just perfect. But wait! There’s more! The best thing about this low carb spiced Chinese style chicken is that it is created with my lazy one-pan technique. Everything goes into the same pan. Minimal washing up. Great!

So here is how you do it, in 3 easy steps.

1 – Quickly sauté your chicken thighs on both sides to seal them.

2 – Add everything else, turn heat down and cover with lid.

3 – Pour yourself a glass of white wine and relax.

My low carb spiced Chinese style chicken is great as a ketogenic meal on its own, but I prefer it with with a side dish of greens, peperonata, cauliflower mash, cauliflower cheese, butter courgettes or a mixed salad.

Enjoy!

LOW CARB SPICED CHINESE STYLE CHICKEN

 

Author: Antya

Nutrition

• Yield: 3

• Serving: 3
• Calories: 470

• Fat: 30g
• Net Carbs: 4g
• Protein: 47g

Recipe type: Main Course

Cuisine: Ketogenic. Low Carb. LCHF. Grain Free. Gluten Free.

Prep time:  5 mins

Cook time:  45 mins

Total time:  50 mins

Print

Delightfully simple, healthy and low carb. A great keto and paleo dish made with no effort whatsoever.

Ingredients

• 650g skinless (optional) and boneless chicken thighs
• 30g extra virgin olive oil (U.S. option HERE)
• 50ml water
• 1 garlic clove (minced)
• 1 TBSP (20g) coconut oil (U.S. option HERE)
• a pak choi bulb (roughly cut)
• 1 chopped fresh chilli (optional)
• ¼ tsp of each of the following:
• - fine Himalayan pink salt (U.S. option HERE)
• - organic, non MSG, gluten free, non GMO broth granules;
• - Chinese 5 spice;
• - paprika;
• - chili powder;
• - cayenne pepper;
• - freshly ground black pepper;
• - turmeric.

Instructions

1. heat oil in a shallow casserole pan.
2. add chicken and sear for 4 mins each side on medium-high heat.
3. add all other ingredients except pak choi and turn chicken pieces over so both sides are well coated.
4. cover with lid, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 mins, then turn chicken pieces over, raise heat to medium and cook for another 15 mins.
5. taste test and adjust seasoning if required.
6. add pak choi 5 mins before end of cooking time.

Notes

Keep an eye on the casserole and add 20-30ml water at a time if the "broth" dries up, but not for the last 10 mins of cooking (after 45 mins cooking there should just be flavoursome oil around the chicken); on the other hand, if a little 'broth' remains, remove the lid and continue cooking until evaporated.

If you buy skin-on chicken thighs, don't throw away the skin. Remove it in one piece and grill it until crispy - delicious!

Metric kitchen scales are an inexpensive yet invaluable gadget to ensure accurate measurement of ingredients. Store them upright in a cupboard or over your worktop and they'll only take up a tiny bit of space. Click HERE for the ones I use. For U.S. option click HERE.

3.5.3251

Enjoyed this post? Your feedback matters to me! Please leave me a comment. If you try this recipe, make my day and share a photo on social media with the hashtag #queenketo. Thank you! 🙂