Uziza Chicken Stir Fry
My 12 days of Christmas series this year is focused on Chicken. If you follow me on social media, you would have seen that I had put out the question for people to guess what theme I was going with this year. Tons of responses came in, some correct and others, well let’s just say we are all winners haha.
My inspiration for this dish came as a result of one of my Asian friends that loved to make stir fry. She always made black pepper chicken stir fry every time I went visiting. Uziza is a close relative to black pepper but I find uziza a lot more fragrant and spicier than normal black peppercorn which made it perfect for the dish I prepared.
Nigerians generally prefer their food spicier and more fragrant so I decided to replicate my friend’s recipe for her stir fry using both uziza seeds and uziza leaves. I decided to reduce the amount of leaves as I did not want the taste to overwhelm the chicken. I hope you enjoy my first recipe in the series.
Recipe for Uziza Chicken Stir Fry
Ingredients
A cup of chicken strips
1 tablespoon of chopped Uziza leaves
One tablespoon of Uziza seeds
A cup of Green beans
3 Scotch Bonnet Peppers
Seasoning cubes
1 bulb of Onion
1 Tablespoon of Soy Sauce (Optional)
2 tablespoons of melted butter
1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of grated ginger
1 tablespoon of corn starch (optional)
Method
Wash and season chicken strips and set aside.
In a pan, heat up your melted butter and vegetable oil and stir fry the chopped garlic, onions and ginger.
In a mortar, crush the uziza seeds and set aside.
To the frying pan, add the seasoned chicken and uziza seeds and stir fry. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot to allow the chicken cook properly in its juices. If it’s drying up, add a few tablespoons of water and allow to cook on low heat.
When chicken is soft, increase the heat and stir fry. Add the chopped peppers, green beans, uziza leaves and soy sauce.
If the stir fry is too watery, sprinkle the corn starch over the stir fry till sauce thickens.
Serve Uziza Chicken Stir fry hot with any side of your choice.
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