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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

Southern Comfort Chicken & Steamed Vegetables

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

  1. Chop the meat into 3-4 inch wide chunks

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  1. Put your cooker onto sauté or browning mode (“Sauté” button on Instant Pot, “Manual > Browning” on Cook4me)

  2. Drizzle ½ tbsp sesame oil into cooker

  3. Add chopped onion and sauté until it starts to soften and go translucent (2-3 mins)

  4. Carefully transfer the chicken pieces to the cooker pot, avoiding marinade dripage

  5. Briefly seal the chicken on both sides (2-3 mins)

  6. Pour the marinade into the cooker

  7. Close and seal the pressure cooker lid

  8. 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.

  9. Start the pressure cooking cycle.

  10. 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)

  11. Once the pressure cooker has finished, “Quick release” the steam if your cooker does not do this automatically.

  12. Carefully remove the chicken and set aside nearby

  13. Mix corn flour and water to make a smooth slurry; add to sauce and stir through

  14. Turn cooker on to “browning/sauté” mode and bring sauce to a boil, stirring until it thickens slightly

  15. Return the cooker to “keep warm” mode & return the chicken to the pot to keep it warm until serving

To serve:

  1. Plate a bed of rice for each person

  2. Carefully extract chicken and place on its bed of rice

  3. Generously ladle some sauce over chicken and garnish with spring onions

  4. Add vegetables to dinner plate or a side plate; we very lightly seasoned ours with seasoned salt.

  5. Serve with a sweet white wine like a Gewürztraminer or Riesling, or a medium sweet apple or pear cider.

Guten Appetit!

Voilá - Dinner is served

Do you have any twists or favourite adjustments to this recipe? Let is know in the comments below!

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