Ultimate 30 Minute Southern Comfort Chicken
Serves: 4
Prep time: 5 Mins (+ ½-12 Hrs marination time)
Cook time: 5 Mins Sauté, 18 Mins Under High Pressure
Difficulty: Easy
This meal was inspired by one Troy had a close encounter with in Roswell New Mexico, of all places. Whilst he did not, as far as he knows, come across any aliens on this stop of his US safari (there were a few close contenders), he did enjoy a good feed come dinner-time.
This is an Asian Fusion dish, a derivative of Bourbon Chicken, which hails from Bourbon street in New Orleans, LA. We’ve switched the liquor to Southern Comfort, for its sweetness, and added Chinese five-spice to introduce a complimentary asian note to the palate. The chicken in this recipe is succulent, and the sauce both sweet and tart, with a gentle Asian spice warmth that will have you coming back for more. We demolished this meal when we made it tonight!
Ingredients
750g (1½ lbs) chicken thighs or breasts (boneless, skinless)
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup honey
⅓ cup southern comfort
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp crushed ginger (fresh or jar, not dried/powdered)
1 tbsp crushed garlic (fresh or jar, not dried/powdered)
1 + ½ tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp Tonkatsu sauce (Aussies can get this in Asian supermarkets, and even some mainstream supermarkets; if you can’t find it, use ½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce)
3-4 spring (green) onions, thinly sliced (cut some larger pieces to add some variation to the portion used to garnish)
1 medium onion, diced
1 tbsp corn flour (cornstarch) and 1 tbsp water for thickening
2 cups uncooked white rice
Vegetables to serve as a side - we used 1 largish zucchini, 2 large carrots and about ¼ small head of cauliflower
Fuse in a touch of the orient
⅛ tsp Chinese five-spice
Equipment
Small casserole dish for marinating chicken
Whisking jug to make the marinade & a small wire whisk
Pressure cooker
See our guide to pressure cooker pantry essentials to find out more about these ingredients, our recommendations, and where to buy them.
Directions
Ahead of time
Chop the meat into 3-4 inch wide chunks
Make the marinade sauce: combine the soy, 1 tbsp sesame oil, apple cider vinegar, southern comfort, honey, ginger, garlic, Tonkatsu sauce, and Chinese five spice in a jug. Whisk to combine well. Mix in ½ the spring onions, reserving ½ for garnish later
Pour the marinade over the chicken in your marinating dish; cover (with a lid or plastic wrap) and refrigerate for a minimum of ½ hour, or overnight if you have time
Tip: If you are in a rush you can skip marination at the cost of slightly less flavour development and penetration (the pressure cooker mostly makes up for this)
Time of cooking
Put your cooker onto sauté or browning mode (“Sauté” button on Instant Pot, “Manual > Browning” on Cook4me)
Drizzle ½ tbsp sesame oil into cooker
Add chopped onion and sauté until it starts to soften and go translucent (2-3 mins)
Carefully transfer the chicken pieces to the cooker pot, avoiding marinade dripage
Briefly seal the chicken on both sides (2-3 mins)
Pour the marinade into the cooker
Close and seal the pressure cooker lid
Select the pressure cooking mode on high pressure (“Manual” on Instant Pot, “Manual > Quick cook” on the Cook4Me)- set the cooking cycle to run for 18 minutes.
Start the pressure cooking cycle.
Meanwhile, cook the 2 cups white rice using your preferred method, in line with its instructions, and cook your vegetables. We steamed ours, which took about the same time as the pressure cooker (approx 15-18 minutes)
Once the pressure cooker has finished, “Quick release” the steam if your cooker does not do this automatically.
Carefully remove the chicken and set aside nearby
Mix corn flour and water to make a smooth slurry; add to sauce and stir through
Turn cooker on to “browning/sauté” mode and bring sauce to a boil, stirring until it thickens slightly
Return the cooker to “keep warm” mode & return the chicken to the pot to keep it warm until serving
To serve:
Plate a bed of rice for each person
Carefully extract chicken and place on its bed of rice
Generously ladle some sauce over chicken and garnish with spring onions
Add vegetables to dinner plate or a side plate; we very lightly seasoned ours with seasoned salt.
Serve with a sweet white wine like a Gewürztraminer or Riesling, or a medium sweet apple or pear cider.
Guten Appetit!
Do you have any twists or favourite adjustments to this recipe? Let is know in the comments below!