Fijian chilli chicken: A simple recipe to make at home

A Fiji inspiration

On a visit to Fiji, we had the opportunity to eat some wonderful traditional food and some others that clearly showed the influence of the other cultures that exist on the islands.  They also showed the input of the chefs, many of whom are citizens of other countries.  Everything comes together in a melting pot of cuisines and ideas.  The end result is some very tasty, but very simple food.

One of my favourites was a lunch of Chilli Chicken.  I sat poolside at the Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort to eat this, washed down with a local beer.   It was a perfect meal to end a great day of touring the island and swimming in the crystal blue waters. 

This chilli chicken recipe doesn’t use a lot of ingredients and most of them should be easily found in your own pantry or at your local grocery store or market.

Please follow the recipe below, or print out the recipe at the bottom of the page.

Ingredients

• 160 grams boneless chicken breast
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste (1/2 for marinating, 1/2 for cooking chicken later)
• 1 tablespoon ginger paste  (1/2 for marinating, 1/2 for cooking chicken later)
• 1 teaspoon chilli paste (or more if you like it hotter)
• 1 teaspoon oyster sauce (1/2 to marinate, remainder in cooking)
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• Several drops sesame oil
• 2/3 cup fresh chicken stock 
• Green capsicum cut into thin strips
• Carrot cut into thin strips
• Cabbage cut finely
• 1 tablespoon cornflour (cornstarch) for thickening
• Cornflour (cornstarch) for dusting
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Oil for frying

Method

• Prepare all ingredients first as it makes the cooking process much easier.

• Cut chicken into strips or small chunks and marinate with garlic, ginger, oyster sauce, salt and pepper. Leave to marinate for at least one hour.

• Coat the chicken in a good layer of cornflour, enough to not just have a soggy mess of chicken in your hands.

• Fry the chicken for a few minutes until the outer coating is brown and they are partially cooked.

• Remove the chicken from the pan and place on kitchen towel to remove excess oil.

• Heat the oil in a wok and quickly fry off the onion, garlic and ginger.

• Add the chilli paste, soy sauce and oyster sauce and stir. Add the drops of sesame oil.
• Add the vegetables and cook for several minutes, stirring around the wok.

• Add the chicken to the wok once again and finish cooking.

• Add the stock in with the cornflour to thicken and make a sauce.
• Season where necessary.

Thanks to the team at the Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort for sharing their recipe with me (with a few creative changes)