Over five months into the shelter-in-place, pandemic kitchen and I am missing the variety of meal options we usually enjoy. I particularly miss shopping for foods, fresh and prepared, from the diverse variety of global foods readily available in the Bay Area.
A recent craving for Chinese roast duck with plum sauce is the inspiration for this recipe. I was driving through a stretch of Stockton Street in San Francisco’s Chinatown and was tempted to do some shopping. Had a parking space appeared, I may have stopped!
Fortunately a few days later, my neighbors called to offer their shareable bounty of red plums in their backyard tree, so the stars aligned, and I got cracking.
Five-Spice is the distinctive Chinese blend of cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise and Szechwan peppercorns. Recipes do vary, and it is widely available at most grocery stores – already blended. You can always DIY and make your own blend to suit your taste buds.
Speaking of suiting your taste buds, there is plenty of opportunity to adjust the proportions of spices in the dry rub. Go with what you like, and augment with single spices if that’s your fancy.
Similarly, with the fresh plum sauce, it’s a forgiving mixture and there’s no end to how you can adjust it. Even switching out the plums for other stone fruit, melon, mango, pineapple – well you get the idea.
This sauce will be delicious with pretty much anything: pork, fish, extra-firm tofu, even a substitute for salsa with chips.
Five-Spice Rubbed Chicken with Fresh Plum Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 to 1-1/2 pounds boneless chicken thighs
Five-Spice Dry Rub
- 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon 5-spice blend to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Fresh Plum Sauce
- 1 cup fresh plums diced into 1/4-inch pieces, takes 4 to 5 plums depending on their size
- 1 tablespoon red onion minced
- 1 tablespoon mild, fresh pepper such as bell or Cubano finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger root minced
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon serrano or jalapeno pepper minced, to taste
- 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Combine the dry rub ingredients together in a small bowl. Sprinkle the rub evenly over all sides of the chicken pieces. Set aside in the refrigerator whilst you prepare the plum sauce.fresh
- Combine the fresh plum sauce ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir gently and taste to adjust for seasons. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Prepare the chicken to cook one the barbeque or broil. If barbequing, I often heat the full barbegue but grill the chicken over indirect heat/coals. There's plenty of heat in the grill to brown the chicken without over charring it. You want to taste the plum sauce in the finished dish rather than a heavy barbeque char.
- If broiling, place the chicken pieces bottom-side facing up and place about six inches from the heat source. Broil for 10 minutes then carefully remove the broiling pan from the heat and turn the pieces over, top-side facing up, and return to broil until done; about 7 - 12 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken pieces, closeness to the heat source, and the strength of your broiler's heat.
- To serve: Slice the chicken pieces across the grain and spoon the fresh plum sauce atop. Serve extra plum sauce alongside.
