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Originally posted in April 22, 2013. Updated with new photos.
On lazy days when I don’t want to fire up my wok and make a traditional Chinese stir-fry or wok cooking, I always make use of my oven to prepare easy and breezy meals.
One of my favorite things to make is Chinese chicken parcels, marinated and wrapped with aluminum foil and baked in the oven.
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The end results are always so tempting and mouthwatering: the aroma as soon as you unwrap the foil, the juicy and tender chicken meat, and the exotic smell of the star anise.
Fresh off the oven and after the parcels cool off, I usually shred the chicken into pieces, and eat with fresh steamed rice. The juice from the chicken parcel is so good with rice, and the chicken makes every mouthful of the rice oh-so-yummy.
As I am writing this post, the thought of the chicken parcel is enough to set my stomach rumbling.
If you are not familiar with star anise, it’s a spice shaped like a star, with a flavor that closely resemble anise.
It’s a very important spice in many Chinese recipes, and you can get them easily in any spice aisle now.
Make sure that you buy the whole star anise, and not the star anise powder, as they are commonly used in whole instead of powder form. If you think the aroma of the star anise is a little overwhelming for your taste, feel free to cut down the quantity used.
Have fun cooking this Chinese chicken parcels recipe and enjoy the meal!
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 313 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Chinese Chicken Parcels
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless and skinless chicken tenders, breasts, or thighs
- 1 pinch salt
- 3 dashes white pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro or scallion (for garnish, optional)
Marinade:
- 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon honey or sugar
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 piece fresh ginger (peeled and cut into thin strips)
- 2 red chilies (seeded and finely chopped)
- 4 star anise (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Instructions
- Lightly season the chicken with salt and white pepper. Combine all the ingredients for the Marinade and marinate the chicken for 15-30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (207°C). Cut out four pieces of 12"x12" aluminum foil. Divide the chicken into 4 equal portions and transfer each portion to individual aluminum foil. Seal the edges of the foil tightly to form a parcel. Make sure there is no leakage from the sides of the parcels.
- Transfer all the parcels on to the oven and bake for 15-17 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. Remove the chicken parcels from the oven and let the parcels cool for 5 minutes.
- Garnish the chicken with the chopped cilantro or scallion and serve with warm steamed rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Wow!! the dish looks very light like a salad.
Bee, first of all thank you for sharing these wonderful recipes. I was wondering whether this dish could be used as a freezer meal. Would that be possible to freeze the parcels to bake at a later date?
Actually, I would find very helpful if there were some info on how to freeze some (if not all) of your recipes. They are all so good and it would be nice to stock up the freezer for when there is no time to cook from scratch. Thank you again.