Chicken with plums, honey and spices recipe

A good sweet-savoury dish for early autumn. If the chicken is getting too dark – because of the honey in the dish – cover it with foil.

Prep time: 10 minutes, plus 4 hours marinating | Cooking time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Serves

Four to six

Ingredients

• 1 chicken, jointed into eight (or a mixture of bone-in chicken joints), skin on

• 6 tbsp soy sauce

• 3 tbsp orange juice

• 1½ five spice powder

• 2 star anise, each broken in two

• 10cm piece cinnamon stick

• 2.5cm chunk ginger, peeled and grated

• 3 red chillies, halved, deseeded and finely sliced

• 4 garlic cloves, grated

• 1½ tbsp olive oil

• 3 tbsp honey

• 6 large plums, halved and stoned

• 2 tbsp soft light-brown sugar

• ½ tbsp rice vinegar, to taste

• Toasted sesame seeds

• Chopped coriander or chopped spring onions (optional)

METHOD

1. Make incisions in the skinless underside of the chicken joints with the tip of a small knife. Place in a dish with the soy sauce, orange juice, spices and garlic, rubbing them into the chicken. Cover with clingfilm, put into the fridge and marinate for four hours.

2. Preheat the oven to 190C/180C fan/gas mark 5. Remove the chicken and scrape off the excess marinade, setting it aside. Gently dry the chicken pieces with kitchen paper and season.

3. Heat the olive oil in a shallow flame- and oven-proof dish about 30cm in diameter. Brown the chicken in batches on both sides. You are not cooking it through, just getting a good colour.

4. Remove the pieces as they’re ready. Pour the fat out of the pan but don’t wipe it. Return the chicken to the pan, together with any juices. Stir the honey into the reserved marinade, then pour this over the chicken. Cook in the oven, uncovered, for 20 minutes, then add the plums, tucking them in among the chicken. Season them and sprinkle some sugar over each one. Spoon the dish juices over the plums.

5. Cook for a further 25 minutes, until the plums are tender and the chicken is nice and dark.

6. Taste the juices in the dish for a sweet-tart balance (this will depend on the flavour of your plums). I sometimes add a little rice vinegar to balance the sweetness, sometimes a little honey if the plums are tart. You may not need anything. Either way, just stir extra flavourings in and heat through gently.

7. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and coriander, if using, and serve with stir-fried greens and rice.