This recipe utilizes a couple of my kitchens’ favorite secret weapons: chicken thighs and a quick brine. Add in a little five-spice powder, ginger, and garlic, and you’ve got a flavorful protein that’s the perfect accompaniment to rice, noodles, or stir-fried vegetables.
Why Chicken Thighs
Have you ever cooked chicken breasts and ended up with an unpalatably chalky substance better fit for the cat? Of course you have. We all have. Even the cat deserves better. Chicken breasts are an incredibly difficult protein to nail unless you utilize a meat thermometer or possess a finger with the seasoned know-how of checking for doneness.
Chicken thighs, on the other hand, are fairly difficult to overcook. Along with being a tougher muscle, the fat content is higher and will render when exposed to heat, adding more flavor and moisture. You can accidentally cook chicken thighs well past the 165 degree Fahrenheit mark and still end up with tender meat. As a bonus, chicken thighs have higher levels of zinc, iron, and vitamin C than their breasty counterparts.
The only time I prefer the breast over the thigh is when I’m utilizing the chicken in cold dishes like chicken salad or, confusingly, chicken for salad.
Why Brine
A wet brine (mixing salt with water) gives the salt time to evenly diffuse throughout the meat, seasoning it from within. It dives into the cell walls and dissolves the stringy protein strands into a gel, allowing them to absorb and retain water as they cook. This is a great method of achieving tender and juicy meat.
This recipe calls for cutting the chicken up into bite sized pieces, meaning it will take much less time for the salt to penetrate throughout. 15 minutes will do the trick, but 45 is even better. As Samin Nosrat would say, any time is better than none, and more is better than some. Of course, there is a limit, as we are not trying to cure our meat. For bite sized pieces, anything over an hour may make the chicken a bit tough.
Five-Spice Brined Chicken Thighs
This chicken was originally created to accompany my Ultimate Recovery Congee recipe, but would also pair well with a stir-fry, curry, soy-sauteed vegetables, or cold noodle salad. If you don’t have 5-spice powder, use a little cayenne, ground cinnamon and ground cloves to achieve a similar result.
Yield: 1 1/2 pounds
Prep time: 15 minutes - 1 hour
Cook time: 12-16 minutes
1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 teaspoons 5-spice powder, plus more for finishing
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more for finishing
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon high-heat oil, divided
In a large bowl or gallon ziplock bag, add the chicken, garlic, ginger, 5-spice, salt and black pepper with enough cold water to cover. Let marinate at room temperature for at least 15 minutes, up to an hour. Discard the brine and dry the chicken as best you can with a paper towel.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Once nearly smoking, add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, for between 6 - 8 total minutes until the internal temp reads 165 degrees or the chicken is fairly firm to the touch. Cook the chicken in batches if you need to to avoid overcrowding the pan; the more space the chicken is given, the better seared it will be.
Once cooked, remove from pan, sprinkle with a little extra 5-spice powder and salt, and continue with the remaining batch(es). Serve immediately.