Chinese Five Spice Grilled Chicken and Long Life Noodles {Spice It Up!}

Since today kicks off the Chinese Lunar Year of the Horse, we blended our own Chinese Five Spice.

I cheated...and I had Jake grill the chicken for me ahead of time. Double cheating! But my Spice It Up! class is five minutes shorter today due to an earthquake drill, so I can use all the help I can get.

In China, Japan and other Asian countries, it’s customary to eat long noodles, signifying longevity, on New Year’s Day. Since the noodles are never to be broken or shortened during the cooking process, I decided to go with a stir-fried “Long-Life Noodles” dish.

CHINESE FIVE-SPICE CHICKEN

2 lb chicken thighs

1/3 C soy sauce

1/4 C olive oil

1 T crushed garlic

2 t Chinese five spice powder

1 t grated fresh ginger

Combine all ingredients except chicken, and use as marinade. Then, marinate chicken at least an hour, but can marinate overnight. Bake in a 375 F. oven, basting once or twice, for about 45 minutes or grill until done. I made this ahead of time and tossed them into the stir-fry at the end to warm them up.

NOODLES

Prepare noodles according to the package direction. The ones we used needed to be par-boiled for 3 minutes before being tossed into the stir-fry. Toss with oil after cooking to prevent them from sticking to each other.

STIR-FRY

1 T crushed garlic

olive oil

soy sauce

sesame oil

greens

broccoli

carrots

fresh cilantro

slices of Chinese 5-spice chicken

Brown the garlic in a splash of olive oil until fragrant. Add in the greens, broccoli, and carrots and cook quickly – you still want them slightly crisp. Stir in the cooked noodles, slices of chicken; add another splash of olive oil, a splash of soy sauce, and a splash of sesame oil. Toss to coat completely. You want them glossy. Garnish with fresh cilantro.