Just a lazy girl cooks – Chinese Five spice Chicken with Bok choy and steamed rice

It is Australia day weekend and everyone is doing something. All I want to do is lie down on the bed and not move an inch. I want to cook something special but it is one of those days when I cannot be bothered. I have such days quiet a lot.

I am usually a very hyperactive person. Infact I have been guilty of having too much energy perhaps and not being able to relax. When we lived in Mumbai life was very stressful. I spent around 4 hours every day in travelling for work, the hectic life and the pollution caused terrible stress which means I was always on my toes. Since we moved here life has become a little less stressful and with it my hyperactivity has somehow calmed down.

I have learned how to relax a bit but “D” and other friends who know how I am tell me that I am still really hyper and need to take it easy. So now that we have a long weekend I decided I would do just that  and not move from the bed at all.

I woke up late, skipped breakfast and spent most part of the afternoon watching crappy shows on TV. And then hunger pangs struck, I wistfully looked towards the kitchen hoping that to magically muster up a gorgeous meal for the lazy girl from Mumbai. But it was not gonna happen so I got up from my couch muttering and mumbling about the unfairness of life and went to the Kitchen.

Thankfully I knew exactly what I wanted to make. I had seen this gorgeous and easy recipe on “www.taste.com.au by Kerrie Sun” and it did not require me to do anything. I just altered the recipe a bit and the meal turned out to be delicious and perfect for a lazy holiday.

And I am glad to be back on my designated throne to spend the remainder of my day without moving an inch.

Here is the recipe (cooking time 60 minutes) 

1 Tbsp Peanut Oil

1/3 cup Soy sauce (I used dark Soy, you can use light if you wish)

1 tsp Ginger paste

1 tsp Garlic paste

2 tbsp Brown Sugar

1/2 tsp Chili powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

2 tsp Chinese five spice powder

1 whole Chicken, cleaned and cut into pieces

1 bunch Bok Choy (Choy sum)

The original recipe calls for 1/4 cup Peanut Oil but I felt it would make the Chicken too oily, so I just used 1 Tbsp. Mix all the ingredients except the Boy Choy together and marinate the Chicken pieces in it for an hour or more. You can keep the marinated Chicken in this mixture for upto 4 hours.

Roast the Chicken in a pre heated oven at 180 Degrees centigrade for 40 minutes turning it around once or till the Chicken is cooked. Don’t worry about the oily soy gravy that is collected in the roasting pan. It tastes delicious with Rice.

Just before the Chicken is ready steam the Bok choy in a steamer for 6 – 7 minutes or boil it in hot water for 5 minutes till the stem is tender.

Serve the Chicken on a bed of steaming hot Rice. So simple isn’t it.  Happy Australia day and Republic day