Peanut Chicken Skillet With Crispy Chicken Skin

As the old saying goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention” and that pretty much describes how this recipe began. I had some leftover roast chicken & skin and I wanted to do something with it. Rather than opt for the pasta dishes I would normally make with my chicken leftovers, I decided to try something a bit different and it all started with a mostly used up jar of peanut butter that was taking up valuable real estate in my cupboard.

The inspiration comes from a chicken satay recipe I made from a cookbook a while ago and also a video I saw a long time ago featuring barbecued chicken covered in peanut butter. Peanuts and chicken are a perfect pair and this recipe is absolutely brilliant to reinvent your leftover roast chicken. I won’t insult anyone by calling this a satay because it’s not. Likewise I won’t pretend that this is an authentic dish from anywhere other than my small London kitchen but it’s delicious and the consistency makes it perfectly easy to eat with chopsticks, which also makes it a lot more fun. This is proper bowl food for sitting on the couch with a good series or movie on a night in.

The crispy chicken skin might seem like an odd choice, but I promise it works. One of my favourite things in the world is a peanut butter milkshake with bacon in it from Five Guys. If you’ve never tried it, you’re in for a treat. The salty sweet of it all is just so amazing and the bacon bits add a crunchy texture. It might seem like an odd choice, but peanut butter and bacon have been friends for a long time. Elvis famously ate peanut butter, bacon & banana sandwiches and I’ve also heard tale of peanut butter, jelly & bacon sandwiches, so this concept isn’t terribly new. While there’s no bacon in this recipe, in my opinion crispy chicken skin mimics bacon in both flavour and texture.

When you fry leftover chicken skin in its own fat that renders right there in the pan, it crisps up. There’s a saltiness to it and it tastes a lot like bacon bits. It also bubbles, making it a bit like bacon’s cousin, pork crackling. Adding chicken skin to this recipe is in a way recreating the peanut butter & bacon flavour combination I love so much. It totally works and can be served to people who don’t eat pork.

If you have a lot of mouths to feed, consider multiplying the rice and rather than stirring that into the pot at the end, simply serve the chicken mixture on a bed of rice to stretch it out. Some naan breads would also be really lovely with this dish and perfect for scooping up delicious bites and mopping juices off the plate. This dish can indeed feed quite a few people if you need it to, but I’ve outlined the recipe below to feed 2 to 4 people, depending on appetite and whether or not it is served with side dishes.

Finally, if you don’t have any leftover roast chicken & skin, don’t worry. You could make this with any cooked chicken if need be and the skins are not manditory. You could substitute some crumbled crispy bacon or pancetta if you like or just skip it altogether. You will still get some texture & saltiness from the dry roasted peanuts if you use them. Also, I’ve chosen to use microwave rice for this dish for ease, but you can use boil in the bag or regular rice if that’s what you have and prefer to use. You’ll need to cook it before stirring into frying pan and this will possibly add some time to your cooking, but if you’re cooking for a lot of people, it might be preferable to make a big pot of rice rather than microwave a lot of bags. You could also thin out the chicken mixture a bit with more water than is called for or some chicken stock. The choice is yours and the options are there to suit your needs. This is a flexible recipe.

Let’s get cooking!

Ingredients

For the skin:

• As much chicken skin as you can salvage from a leftover roast chicken or roast chicken pieces like thighs, drumsticks, breasts or wings

For the Paste:

• 1/8 teaspon Cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
• Zest & juice of 1 lemon

Additional Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 200g cooked chicken, roughly chopped (or as much as you have – it’s okay if it’s a bit more or less)
• 100g frozen edamame beans (soya beans)
• 1 bag (220g) microwave brown or wholegrain rice (or rice of your choice)
• 300ml water plus more if needed
• Salt & Pepper
• Dry roasted peanuts to serve (optional)
• Lemon wedges to serve

Method

1. To get started, I find it’s easier to get prepared first. Put a pot of water on to boil for the edamame beans first. Open your rice and get it ready for the microwave so you can just press start when it’s time, put a large frying pan on medium-high and set aside a plate lined with at least 2 layers of paper towels.
2. Place pieces of chicken skin fat side down in the frying pan which should be getting hot now. They will render their own fat, so you don’t need to add any oil at this point. Fry the skins for several minutes until crispy and starting to bubble a little on top like pork crackling or a poppadum. Not every piece will bubble and some might take longer than others to completely crisp up, so you need to watch them and remove pieces as and when they’re ready to the paper towel lined plate. Don’t let any pieces burn. When all the pieces are done, turn off the heat, but keep the pan handy. You will use this frying pan again later. Leave the chicken skin pieces on the lined plate to cool.
3. Meanwhile, when the pot of water is boiling, add the frozen edamame beans. Bring to the boil and cook for about 5 minutes. Strain and set aside.
4. Now it’s time to make the paste for your chicken. Add all the paste ingredients to the bowl of a food processor or the chopper attachment for a stick blender and whiz them up until a paste forms. If you don’t have either of these, simply put them into a smallish bowl and stir with a fork until you have a paste consistency. If you find this a bit difficult, just add a couple of tablespoons of water to thin it out a little. Once you have a paste, set this aside, but close enough to the stove so you can grab it when you’re ready. (You could do this step the day before if you like and store the paste in a sealed container in the fridge overnight.)
5. Pour the two tablespoons of oil into the frying pan you used to fry the chicken skins along with any oil that’s left in the pan and turn the heat back on to medium-high. Add the cooked chicken (and any leftover jellied juices left behind from storing) and reheat, stirring occasionally until warmed through. As the chicken starts to warm up it will soften up a bit and you’ll start to smell it cooking. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the paste, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula or spoon to get every bit of it into your pan. Pour in 300ml of water and stir to combine, making sure all the chicken is coated.
6. Now add the edamame and stir to combine. Keep cooking your chicken mixture to reduce it, but if it’s getting too dry simply add more water about 100 ml at a time. At this stage you can reduce the heat to low and just let it simmer away, stirring occasionally.
7. Now it’s time to microwave the rice. Most of the microwave rice bags take only 2 minutes. Once it’s done, pour it into the frying pan and stir again. When your mixture is piping hot and a nice, thick consistency, it’s done.
8. Taste the mixture and season to taste with salt & pepper. I sometimes also add a pinch more Cayenne pepper at this stage if it doesn’t pack enough punch. Once you have it seasoned the way you want it, it’s time to plate and serve.
9. Using the paper towels lining the crispy chicken skin plate to protect your hands in case the grease is still hot, crush the crispy skin shards in your hands to make a bacon bits type of texture.
10. Spoon the thick chicken mixture into bowls. Sprinkle a scattering of both the dry roasted peanuts and the crispy chicken skin across the top and serve with lemon wedges that can be squeezed over the top of the dish before eating.