by Anne Stone

Created on: March 29, 2010

I heard a friend talking about this recipe at a party and I was intrigued. When I decided to give it a go I couldn't remember much of what she had said so I just experimented and this is the recipe I came up with. It went down great with my family, although I didn't confess to cola being the main ingredient until after they had finished eating it.  The chicken has a chinese sticky sauce taste and I like to serve it with plain boiled rice. It's quick and simple to make and no need for the oven.

Ingredients for 2 people (you can double the recipe for 4)

500ml cola, any brand will do
2 chicken breasts
1 tablespoon cooking oil
3 tablespoons of passata
1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional, or use to taste)
1/2 teaspoon dried ginger (optional, or use to taste)

First brown the chicken breasts in the cooking oil on a medium heat for about 5 minutes.

In a large saucepan add the rest of the ingredients, cola, passata, five spice, soy sauce, chilli flakes and ginger and give them a good stir.

Add the chicken breasts and bring to the boil.
Keep on a fairly high heat so that the liquid remains bubbling until it is reduced by about one third and has become sticky and thicker in texture.

Serve hot on a bed of rice.

I like this recipe because it's easily adaptable. You can substitute the passata for tomato puree. You can omit the chilli flakes and ginger if you don't like them, but I find they give the dish a little more bite. You can add more soy sauce if you think it's a little too sweet. You can add pineapple chunks for a sweet and sour taste.

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