Easy Chilli ‘n’ Soy Chicken Traybake with Spy Valley Gewürztraminer \ VIDEO

Fiery chicken thighs paired with Spy Valley’s fragrant and spicy Gewürztraminer.

In the sweltering heat of a non-air conditioned apartment in Hong Kong, a family gathers around a table for an afternoon snack. At this time of the day, and at these scorching temperatures too, it’s not baskets of steamed dim sum or lacquered roast meats on the menu. Instead, a range of fresh fruits are laid out, from the crunchy Asian pears to the juiciest jumbo oranges. I don’t recognise one of the fruits until I see my aunt Rebecca peeling away its bobbly, dark pink skin to reveal a fleshy white pearl. They’re lychees, freshly picked and refrigerated so that when it’s time to eat, the fruits are cool and refreshing – the perfect relief from the humid weather. Growing up in New Zealand, I had only ever eaten tinned lychees before this trip. These fresh ones were on another level: naturally sweet without being sugary, crisp to the bite, and of course –  strongly perfumed.

To this day, the unmistakable floral aroma of lychees still transports me back to that family trip to Hong Kong from so many years ago, and to that one afternoon in particular when we sat in my aunt’s apartment gobbling up the fresh lychees.

Recently, this nostalgia hit me on the most unexpected of occasions. We were at the New Zealand Cellar in Pop Brixton for a wine tasting session with New Zealand wines expert Chris Stroud. Next up in our tasting was a gewürztraminer by family-owned winery Spy Valley, which is based in the sunny Marlborough region of New Zealand. When Chris poured each of us a glass of this tongue twister wine, the smell of lychees wafted into the air. I instantly fell for Spy Valley’s chilled gewürztraminer, which seemed like a grown-up and sophisticated version of those delicious chilled lychees with its floral notes, tropical aroma and subtle sweetness.

We were also lucky enough to get a chance to try Spy Valley’s sauvignon blanc, which had the full, ripe and rich fruit flavours of grapefruit, passionfruit and red peppers. It would make a terrific match for seafood or something zesty, like our lemon chicken. In the end, we decided to develop a new recipe to match with the gewürztraminer because we loved it so much. We could see how the exotic spiciness of this one would balance well against spicy food, which we also love.

If you like quick and easy, this recipe is definitely for you. Some days of the week (I’m looking at you, Wednesday and Thursday!) are what we like to call traybake days. It’s true that we both love cooking, and sometimes we’ll have a terrific time spending a good few hours knocking out large batches of handmade potstickers. But sometimes, even we find ourselves more drawn to the sofa than the stove, and wishing that dinner could be ready at the snap of our fingers.

Now, traybakes aren’t quite as quick as that, but they come pretty darn close. It doesn’t get much better than chucking a few ingredients together then whacking the whole lot into the oven. But we don’t think that simplicity has to mean compromising on flavour, far from it! In this traybake, three powerhouse ingredients in particular (soy sauce, chilli and spring onions) turn something incredibly simple into a luscious and moreish one-pan dinner. With the sizzling hot flavour of the fresh chillies infused into every bite, this chicken dish packs a punch that perfectly complements the spicy notes of Spy Valley’s gewürztraminer.

Easy Chilli ‘n’ Soy Chicken Traybake

By the Dumpling Sisters

Serves 3-4, with rice

800 g chicken thigh
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine (optional)
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2 fresh red chillis, finely sliced
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp white pepper
10 spring onions, cut into 5cm lengths

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/190°C fan. Get the kettle on with at least 100ml of water.

2. In a roasting tray, make the marinade by mixing together everything except the chicken and spring onions.

3. Add the chicken and using your hands, massage the marinade all over the chicken. Rummage for some of the chunky bits of ginger and chilli and arrange them on top of the chicken so they can get crispy in the oven.

4. Tuck the spring onions between and underneath the chicken.

5. Pour 100ml of just-boiled water into the gaps between the chicken thighs.

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes until cooked through. Serve on a bed of rice with plenty of soy-chicken juices.

This post was kindly sponsored by Spy Valley. All of the opinions expressed here and recipes are our own. For more information, visit: http://www.spyvalleywine.co.nz