Delia Smith Chinese Chicken with Broccoli Recipe

Delia Smith’s Chinese chicken with broccoli recipe is her oriental chicken stir-fry from The Delia Collection: Chicken, where strips of chicken breast are tossed in cornflour and five-spice, stir-fried until crisp, then thrown back into the wok with broccoli, shiitake mushrooms, cashew nuts, and a rice wine and soy sauce finish that takes about 20 minutes from start to plate.

I always thought stir-fries were the kind of thing you could wing without a recipe, but Delia’s method of marinating the chicken in cornflour first is what makes the strips go properly crisp instead of just grey and chewy, and now I cannot make one any other way.

More Chicken Recipes:

• Chicken Curry
• Chicken Tagine
• Chicken Basque

Why the Cornflour Coating Matters

Delia tosses the chicken strips in cornflour and five-spice before they go near the wok, and this is the step that most people skip when they are in a hurry. The cornflour creates a thin shell that goes golden and crispy in the hot oil, and it also thickens the sauce slightly at the end so everything clings together instead of sitting in a puddle.

She also lets the chicken sit in the coating for 30 minutes, which gives the soy sauce time to soak in and the cornflour time to hydrate properly. I have tried shortening this to 10 minutes and the coating slides off in the wok, so the full 30 is worth it.

Chinese Chicken with Broccoli Ingredients

Delia’s recipe from The Delia Collection: Chicken serves 2 to 3, and she says you can swap the broccoli for sugar snaps and the shiitake for any other mushroom if that is what you have. I stick with shiitake because the flavour is worth the extra 50p.

• 3 skinless chicken breasts (about 450g / 1 lb total), cut into thin strips
• 1 heaped tablespoon cornflour (cornstarch)
• ½ teaspoon five-spice powder
• 2 dessertspoons Japanese soy sauce, plus 2 tablespoons extra for the sauce
• 110g (4 oz) shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 110g (4 oz) broccoli florets, cut into thin slices with stalks sliced diagonally
• 4 spring onions (scallions), whites chopped small, greens shredded finely
• 110g (4 oz) cashew nuts
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 3 tablespoons groundnut or flavourless oil
• 4 tablespoons rice wine or dry sherry
• 1 teaspoon salt

How To Make Delia Smith Chinese Chicken with Broccoli

1. Marinate the chicken: Cut the breasts into thin strips about 5mm wide, toss them in a bowl with the cornflour and five-spice powder until evenly coated, then sprinkle over the 2 dessertspoons of soy sauce and give it all a good mix. Cover and leave for 30 minutes while you get everything else ready.
2. Prep the vegetables: Slice the shiitake mushrooms, cut the broccoli florets into thin slices with the stalks sliced diagonally, and separate the spring onion whites from the greens.
3. Toast the cashews: Get 1 tablespoon of oil smoking hot in a wok, toss in the cashews and keep them moving for 45 to 60 seconds until they turn golden, then tip them straight out onto a plate before they burn.
4. Stir-fry the chicken: Add another tablespoon of oil to the wok and when it is really hot, stir-fry the chicken in two batches for 2 to 3 minutes each until crisp and golden all over, then set aside with the cashews.
5. Cook the aromatics: Drop the heat to medium, add the last tablespoon of oil, and fry the chopped onion, garlic, and ginger for about 2 minutes until fragrant.
6. Add the vegetables: Turn the heat back up high, add the mushrooms and broccoli, and toss them around for about a minute so they get colour on all sides.
7. Bring it together: Return the chicken and cashews to the wok, pour in the rice wine mixed with the extra soy sauce, season with the salt, then add the chopped spring onion whites, put a lid on, and let everything steam together for just 1 minute.
8. Serve: Pile onto rice noodles or steamed rice and scatter the shredded spring onion greens over the top.

Getting the Wok Hot Enough

Delia says to have a kitchen timer handy because everything moves fast once the wok is hot, and she is not exaggerating. The cashews go from golden to burnt in about 10 seconds, and the chicken needs to hit the oil in small batches so the wok stays screaming hot rather than dropping to a simmer.

If you do not have a wok, a large heavy frying pan works fine as long as you do not crowd it. Two batches of chicken rather than one is the difference between crispy strips and a soggy pile.

What Else to Serve

Delia suggests rice noodles or plain steamed rice, and I prefer the noodles because the sauce coats them better than it does rice. A drizzle of sesame oil and a few extra shredded spring onions over the top finishes it off nicely.

Next-Day Leftovers

The chicken loses its crispiness overnight but the flavour is still good cold, tossed through leftover noodles as a packed lunch. Reheat in a hot wok for 2 minutes rather than the microwave if you want to get some of that texture back. I would not freeze this one because the broccoli goes mushy.

Frequently Asked Questions

You Might Also Like:

• Chicken Chasseur
• Chicken Paprika
• Moroccan Chicken

Nutrition Facts

• Calories: 520 kcal
• Fat: 28g
• Carbohydrates: 18g
• Fibre: 3g
• Protein: 42g

Nutrition estimated per serving based on 3 servings.