Sizzling garlic butter chicken

Ingredients

• 450 g chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces
• ½ tsp potato starch or cornflour
• ¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp chicken stock powder
• A good pinch of sugar
• 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 1 leek, halved, cut into 2 cm chunks
• 3 tbsp white wine
• 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with ¼ cup cold water

Garlic butter (makes extra)

• 50 ml olive oil
• 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 100 g butter
• Salt
• 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley

Instructions

1. To make the garlic butter, heat the oil and garlic a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes, or until the garlic is fragrant and just beginning to brown. Remove from the heat and stir through the butter, seasoning well with salt. Allow the garlic butter to cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally, until the texture of thick yoghurt. Stir through the parsley and set aside.
2. Preheat a cast-iron hotplate on the stove over medium-high heat.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, starch, bicarb soda, stock powder and sugar, mix well to combine and set aside. Heat the oil over high heat in a large wok or frying pan, then stir-fry the leeks for 2 minutes, until softened, then remove from the pan to a plate with a slotted spoon.
4. Add an extra drizzle of oil to the pan, then add the prepared chicken and stir-fry until lightly browned. Return the leeks to the pan with the wine and about 2-3 tbsp of the garlic butter. Toss until the butter begins to emulsify into a sauce. Use the cornstarch slurry to thicken the liquid in the pan into a sauce, then pour directly onto the heated hotplate and serve immediately.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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