Wheelie Tasty Recipes

Trust me on this one you will never look at a chicken nugget in the same way again. These chicken bites are bursting with flavour and crunch and the spicy Korean sauce packs a real punch that slaps you round the face and leaves a lovely tingle on your tongue. The idea was born out of a couple of recipes that Simon Rimmer did on his “Eat the Week with Iceland” program and I sort of combined the 2 to make it into a healthier option. They can be made as gluten-free, made with fish, squid or prawns, maybe tofu or even mozzarella cheese balls. You could use tortilla wraps instead of lettuce and sour cream instead of yoghurt and you could deep or shallow fry them but just like with all of these recipes I try and put a healthier slant on them.

INGREDIENTS

2 packets of skinless and boneless chicken thigh fillets, approximately 1 kg

3 to 4 heaped tablespoons of cornflour

2 eggs lightly seasoned, beaten

1 packet of Japanese Panko crumbs, widely available in supermarkets, gluten-free or ordinary breadcrumbs

3 tablespoons gluten-free plain flour or ordinary plain flour

1 tablespoon of smoked paprika, optional

iceberg lettuce cups or tortilla wraps

Fat-free Natural yoghurt to serve

salt-and-pepper

For the Sauce

5 dessert spoons of Korean chilli paste, https://www.theasiancookshop.co.uk/gochujang-paste-korean-hot-pepper-paste-6204-p.asp?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIs4GQtM-c2wIVD7XACh0WBglPEAQYASABEgI_f_D_BwE

1 dessert spoon of sesame oil

5 dessert spoons of soy sauce

2 dessert spoons of honey, you could use sweetener to reduce the calories

3 dessert spoons of rice wine vinegar

2 cloves of garlic, grated

thumb -sized piece of ginger, grated

For the Slaw

selection of crunchy fresh vegetables cut into fine matchsticks, this is what I used but the choice is yours.

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

2 carrots

2 sticks of celery

2 to 3 spring onions

half a red onion

half head of white cabbage

juice of 2 to 3 Limes

2 tablespoons of chilli sauce

1 teaspoon of sweetener, optional

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200° C fan oven or equivalent

Cut the thigh fillets in half and set aside

Put both lots of flour onto a plate and season lightly with salt-and-pepper and the paprika if using

Put the beaten eggs onto another plate

Empty the breadcrumbs onto another plate, ( if you are making your own breadcrumbs it’s best to use slightly stale bread but there are some good ones available in the supermarkets. This even works without the breadcrumbs, just using the eggs and flour).

Now, dip each piece of chicken, firstly in the flour, then in the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs and spread out onto a baking tray

Oven bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes, check them after about 15 and turn

In the meantime prepare the sauce and coleslaw

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce, i.e. Korean chilli paste, honey, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic together and set aside just taste to your liking set aside.

Make sure all your veg is finely sliced into matchsticks, this can be done by hand, in the food processor or a mandolin

Add the chopped herbs, Lime juice, chilli sauce and sweetener then get your hands in and give everything a good toss, you know you want to 🙂 .

Remove the chicken from the oven and allow to cool for a minute before pouring over the sauce.

Take a lettuce cup or tortilla wrap and layer with the slaw, chicken with sauce and a drizzle of yoghurt,

Finally locked the doors, switch off the phones so that no one can disturb this truly satisfying dish.

NB ensure that you doublecheck all the ingredients if you are gluten intolerant as some sauces have hidden gluten