Hoisin chicken with couscous and asparagus
I can’t really think of many dishes where chicken won’t go with. It must be one of the most versatile meats out there. In fact I think I heard people say they are vegetarian but do eat chicken.. (not that that makes a lot of sense to me, but hey… I am not a vegetarian!)
Actually when I think about it I have been a vegetarian a long long time ago… I was still a student nurse (ok, we’re talking about 25 years ago) and I am not sure why I decided I wanted to be a vegetarian but it must have had something to do with my love of animals. It just wasn’t something that lasted very long. It’s quite hard or at least it used to be quite hard trying to eat vegetarian in everyday life. Now I did like the effect it had on my body. When I started going back to eating meat; the first meal was HEAVY on the stomach like you wouldn’t believe! So it does make a difference, but then I love cooking too much to be restricted by the fact that I cannot eat meat. I still do eat quite a lot of vegetarian dishes (to the dismay of T. who is a real carnivore) or if not I try to eat meat from animals that have been reared in a biological way.
I have in fact been contemplating maybe having two chickens myself. Ever since I did a photoshoot with adorable little chickens (see above) it has kind of played in the back of my head. Ofcourse I know nothing about having chickens myself, so I would have to find that out first and then secondly I would have to convince T. that it would be a good thing. Fresh eggs every day, and some live in the garden… I just think chickens (yes, also the older ones) are cute… It won’t be anytime soon anyway if at all…
How did I get to having chickens while I only wanted to write about my dinner with chicken last night? So much for focus.. 🙂
Anyway, we had hoisinchicken with couscous for dinner last night and while I was preparing it I wasn’t sure if I was gonna like it, but as it turned out it was very tasty..
Hoisin is rather sweet and it was even more sweet since honey was added into the mix, but if you like that; this is a great dish to try.
Here is the recipe:
Hoisin chicken with couscous and asparagus
Ingredients
- 4 small skinned chicken fillets
- 300 gr of couscous
- 1/2 tsp chinese 5-spices
- 1/2 tsp gingerpowder
- Bunch of asparagus cut of the wooden ends and then cut them into 6 cm long bits
- 1 carrot in small strips
- 4 tbsp of hoisin sauce
- 500 ml chickenstock
- 4 tbsp of honey
- arachide oil
- coriander leaves
- 1,5 tbsp of roasted sesame seeds
- Bring about 375 ml of chicken stock or bouillon to a boil and add the asparagus and carrot. Let it boil for about a minute.
- Put the couscous in a bowl and stir in the ginger and chinese 5-spices. Add the stock and vegetables and cover with a teatowel.
- Put the oil in a pan and fry the chicken fillets. Add the hoisin sauce and honey with 4 tbsp of water and leave to simmer for about 6-7 minutes or untill the chicken is done. Pour some of the sauce over the chicken from time to time.
- When the chicken is done, stir the couscous with a fork and add the majority of the corianderleaves through the couscous.
- To serve put the couscous on a plate and slice the chicken in thick slices and put them on top. Sprinkle with the remainder of the corianderleaves and the sesame seeds.
Disclaimer
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
Put the couscous in a bowl and stir in the ginger and chinese 5-spices. Add the stock and vegetables and cover with a teatowel.
