It’s safe to say that many people know about the benefits of drinking green tea. Its properties as an antioxidant, a fat busting agent and cancer suppressor are legendary. But did you know that chili peppers are also cancer warriors? They contain a substance called capsaicin which is responsible for the fire you taste in chili but also works to fight cancer. Naturally, we decided to try putting these two ingredients together in a single dish. Oh boy, what a challenge. But it was something we were definitely up for. Now we present you with a truly delicious Sambal Chicken with Green Tea.
Green Tea and Chili in Harmony
While green tea and chili seem like two ingredients that would be at odds with one another, we’ve managed to create a dish that works. With every bite, you’ll taste the heat from the sauce which settles down as you bite into the chicken. This is where the green tea flavours will start to emerge.
It is subtle but definitely present in every bite of the chicken. That’s because we’ve marinated the chicken in green tea powder (we used Fulleaf Green Tea powder) in place of the more traditionally used turmeric. Green tea works beautifully to remove any raw chicken smell. Instead you get that fresh tea smell. So much better!
Presenting Sambal Chicken with Green Tea
Ingredients:
6 g (2 tsp) Fulleaf green tea powder
60 g (aprox. 8-9 pieces) green chili
95 g (2 medium sized) red onions, sliced
30 g fresh ginger, sliced
365 g chicken fillets
1 tbsp sugar
1 tomato
¼ cup milk
Salt to taste
Method:
First prepare all the ingredients.
- Wash the chicken and coat with 2 teaspoons of green tea powder. This will remove any unpleasant smells. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt. Set aside.
- While your chicken marinates in the green tea powder, cut 2 medium sized onions in half and then slice into quarter inch thick pieces.
- Slice the ginger into thin 2-inch long pieces.
- Blend the green chili into a smooth paste consistency.
Let’s get cooking.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a medium sized pan or small wok. Fry the chicken fillet for 3-5 minutes. Make sure to turn the chicken halfway through frying so you that it is evenly cooked. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
- In the same pan, using the same oil, stir fry the blended green chili and sliced ginger for 30 seconds.
- Add the chicken back into the mix along with 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir fry for 1 minute.
- Pour in ¼ cup milk and let it cook for another 1 minute.
- Add the sliced onions and cut tomato and give it a quick mix through.
- All done and ready to eat!
You can enjoy the dish with a plate of hot steaming white rice. If you’re not a fan of rice, we recommend making pita sandwiches. Just place the pita bread on a plate. Then spread a bit of plain natural yoghurt on the pita bread. Pick out a few pieces of the Sambal Chicken with Green Tea and lay it over on top of the yoghurt spread and bread. Top with any other vegetables you desire, roll it up and bite into it. Yum!
A Green Tea Success
It’s been quite an exciting experiment trying to figure out how to put chili and green tea together. In the process we discovered a wonderful new way to incorporate green tea. While traditionally turmeric is used in Malaysian recipes to kill unpleasant smells as well as provide flavor, it seems to work just as well with green tea powder. We’ll definitely be looking at other recipes where we can incorporate green tea powder in a similar fashion. Maybe we should give green tea fried chicken a shot next? Hmmm…
If you try the recipe do let us know what you think. It’s unique and better yet, so easy to put together. It will definitely be an interesting dish to share and talk about with your family.