Sesame chicken kebabs with mango salsa
Looking for an easy chicken recipe? Nick Nairn’s stunning kebabs make a great barbecue recipe, or are fabulous fried.
Equipment and preparation: You will need 24 small bamboo or metal skewers for this recipe.
Ingredients
For the kebabs
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú pancetta or dry cured streaky bacon, finely chopped
- 450g/1lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, roughly cubed
- ½ free-range egg white
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp sugar
- 1 tsp cornflour
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 6 canned water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped
- small handful sesame seeds
- vegetable or groundnut oil, for deep frying (optional)
For the mango salsa
- 1 mango, peeled and finely diced
- 1 small red onion, finely diced
- 1 red chilli, finely diced
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
- 2 tbsp mint leaves, finely sliced
- 1 lime, juice only
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For dipping
- light soy sauce (preferably Japanese)
- sweet chilli sauce
Method
For the kebabs, soak 24 small bamboo skewers in cold water for 20 minutes. Alternatively you can use metal skewers.
Put the pancetta (or bacon) and the chicken cubes into a food processor and blend to a smooth paste.
In a small bowl, whisk the egg white with the salt, sugar, cornflour and sesame oil. Add these to the processor and blend to make a smooth, slightly rubbery mixture.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl, and stir in the water chestnuts and spring onions.
Take one heaped teaspoon of the mixture at a time and squeeze it around one end of a bamboo or metal skewer, extending the kebab halfway down. Repeat until all the mixture is used up to make about 24 skewers.
Sprinkle the sesame seeds on a small flat tray and roll each kebab in the sesame seeds.
Heat a frying pan containing 1cm/½in of oil, until just starting to smoke, add the kebabs and cook on each side for about 1½ minutes, or until cooked through and golden-brown.
Drain on kitchen paper.
For the mango salsa, place all the ingredients into a bowl and mix lightly to combine.
To serve, place the skewers onto a plate and serve immediately with separate bowls of soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce for dipping. Pile the salsa alongside.