Sous Vide 5-Spice Chicken Breast

This is inspired by an old recipe. I grew up in Western Pennsylvania, far from good Chinese food, but once we discovered some of the more exotic flavors — Five spices! Soy sauce! Sesame oil! — we couldn't get enough of it. I don't think we were creating anything very authentic, but at least we were approaching a flavor profile that intrigued us (not that a single one of us ever even thought the words flavor profile). When I was a kid, this dish was made using a whole, cut-up chicken, marinating it, then baking it and basting it from time to time. I don't fire up the oven very often these days. And my family is partial to chicken breast off the bone, no skin, please. So this twist I've created for the Anova Precision Cooker? This satisfies everyone just the way the other dish did all those years ago. My favorite side for this is basmati rice cooked in coconut milk — just replace water with canned coconut milk. Then I stir a generous amount of chopped cilantro into the rice.

Author

Barbara Freda

I grew up in a cooking family and after getting a degree in Spanish and Anthropology, realized what I really wanted to do was to go to culinary school. After working in a NYC bank for a few years, I managed to get to culinary school and got my first jobs in NYC kitchens, including a long stint at Union Square Cafe in its earliest years. After (sadly) leaving NYC, I realized I needed to step away from the 80-hour work weeks, so I left the heat of the kitchen for the cool of the computer keyboard: I started writing about food, the business of food, and technology in the food industry, as well as teaching cooking classes. Recipe development remains one of my top loves, and the opportunity to develop recipes for Anova has been fun every step of the way.

Prep Time: 00:20

Recipe Time: 01:15

Temperature : 146.3F / 63.5C

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
• Coconut basmati rice, for serving (see note)

Directions

1. Set the Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker to 146ºF (63.5ºC).
2. Combine the chicken, onion, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, garlic, and five-spice in a large zipper lock bag. Seal the bag using the water immersion technique.
3. Place the bag in the water bath and set the timer for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
4. About 5 minutes before the chicken is done, heat the broiler to high.

Finishing Steps

1. When the timer goes off, remove the bag from the water bath. Remove the chicken from the bag and transfer to a broiler-safe baking sheet. Pour cooking liquid from the bag over the chicken.
2. Broil the chicken until sauce starts to bubble and chicken breasts turn golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from the broiler and let rest for 5 minutes.
3. Slice chicken into thin medallions. Serve on top of coconut basmati rice, drizzled with additional sauce.