Green Tea Asian Chicken

My wife Jane didn’t like the sounds of this recipe: Green tea with chicken? She likes each separately well enough, but was wary of the combination.

But I made it anyway, and, like Mikey in the old Life cereal commercial, she likes it.

The recipe originates from Relish, the food magazine that’s inserted into some newspapers. The recipe online is here.

The green tea serves as the liquid base for a marinade. It’s the spices -- the coriander, ginger and garlic -- that give the dish its taste, in combination not too dissimilar from teriyaki, in fact.

I served it on a bed of cooked baby spinach with a side of brown rice.

Ingredients
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup hot brewed green tea
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 teaspoons peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Fresh cilantro and mint, chopped (optional)
Arugula or spinach (optional)

Directions
1. Stir sugar into tea while hot and let cool;
2. Combine tea with coriander, salt, pepper, ginger, garlic and 2 tablespoons canola oil;
3. Place chicken in a large zip-top plastic bag and pour in half of marinade. Seal and let chill 1 to 6 hours;
4. Heat remaining marinade over medium high heat  about 4 minutes, or until reduced by one-third;
5. Remove thighs from marinade; discard marinade in bag. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet;
6. Add chicken to pan without crowding and cook until browned, 3 to 4 minutes on each side;
7. Serve with sauce and fresh herbs over greens.

Click here for recipe card.