YO. Mangos are in season right now, let’s make the most of them.
A ripe mango is something to behold. Soft, juicy and so deliciously sweet. Take advantage of the seasonal produce, because it’s at its very best when the season is right. If you’ve had a tart, bitter mango it’s because you’ve been eaten them at the worn time of year.
This Sticky Mango Chicken with Fresh Mango Salsa takes advantage of fresh mango and preserved mango. The salsa is so fresh, a little sweet and sour, and balances the sticky chicken. The chicken is tender, crispy and covered in the most perfect mango based glaze.
Think a mixture of Indian ingredients and Chinese ingredients, coming together to create something magical.
What Is Sticky Mango Chicken?
Put it simply, ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS, and your new favourite quick fix meal.
Sticky Mango Chicken starts with chicken, cooked ideally in a cast iron pan until golden and crisp on each side. Our recipe uses chicken thighs due to the fat content and flavour profile. These thighs are cooked to around 80C (we use a probe to check the temp, and highly recommend you get one too).
The thighs are then covered in a sticky, sweet and umami rich sauce. This sauce is comprised of:
- Mango Chutney
- Dark Soy Sauce
- Vinegar
- Fresh Garlic
- Water
This sauce base is cooked in the same pan the chicken was in, and soaks up all the chicken bits stuck to the pan and incorporates that into the sauce to add depth of flavour. This is also why we use a cast iron pan.
This is all that’s needed to create a rich sticky sauce. The mango chutney is key here because it adds the necessary mango, and sugar content. Buy the best you can, we are life long fans of Geeta’s Mango chutney, it’s simply to best you can buy from the shops. Or, just make it. If using Geeta’s be careful to remove the whole cloves and cardamom pods otherwise you’ll get a surprise flavour explosion in your mouth, which is a bit too much.
How Do I Cook The Sticky Mango Chicken?
This dish is all done in the pan. As said earlier, we recommend a good cast iron pan, buy the best quality you can as it will last you for life. We love STAUB pans, which is what we use in our video. They are expensive, but don’t need as much maintenance as others and looks incredible – it also comes pre-seasoned.
The chicken is cooked on a medium high heat in chicken fat (or oil) until golden and crisp on both sides, and the internal temp is 80C (for thighs). The chicken is then removed from the pan which shows all the gnarly crispy chicken bits stuck to the pan. The mango sauce is then added, which due to the added water, will sizzle and bubble away. This will allow you to deglaze the pan with a wooden spoon / spatula and scrape all the good bits off the bottom and incorporate this into the sauce. This will add great depth of flavour.
Remember, if you’re using a cast iron pan, don’t use plastic utensils as they will melt. Truth. Also remember this can be cooked in any regular non-stick frying pan too.
The sauce is reduced in the pan until thick and sticky. The chicken is then added back in to the pan and just warmed through and covered in the sticky sauce.
What is a Mango Salsa and how do i make it?
A mango salsa, or at least Fork and Twist’s version, is a fresh and vibrant pico de gallo type side dish. It’s comprised of the following ingredients:
- Ripe, in season Mango
- Finely diced shallots
- Finely diced tomato
- Lime / Lemon Juice
- Coriander
- Salt
These ingredients are cut small and similarly sized so together they create the most delicious accompaniment to the sticky mango chicken. As the chicken is rich and sweet, it needed a fresh and tangy side to go with it, which due to the lime / lemon, works perfectly.
Remember, because we add citrus and salt, we need to let this infuse. Make it at the start, place it in an air tight container and let it infused in the fridge whilst you make the chicken.
Final Notes
This was a complete spur of the moment dish. One I came up with on a day when I couldn’t be bothered to cook and needed something delicious, quick and minimal effort.
We had a massive jar of Mango chutney and this jumped out at me. It’s loosely based off our Baked Korean Chicken, which uses Gochujang Paste as the base and is equally as delicious and quick.
We hope you enjoy this dish as much as we have enjoyed creating and eating it.
Sticky Mango Chicken with Fresh Mango Salsa Video Tutorial
Sticky Mango Chicken with Fresh Mango Salsa Recipe Card
Sticky Mango Chicken
Equipment
- Cast Iron Pan (optional - use a non stick frying pan if that's all you have)
- Sharp Knife
- Raw meat chopping board
- Veggie chopping board
- Meat Probe (optional - but highly recommend to know when the chicken is sfae to eat)
- Wooden spatula/spoon
Ingredients
Mango Chicken
- 8 whole Chicken Thighs, Boneless and Skinless
- 2 large tbsp Mango Chutney Geetas brand is what we use, hands down the best store bought version.
- 2 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
- 1 large Garlic Clove, peeled and finely grated (we forgot to film this in our video!)
- 1 tbsp Chicken Fat / Cooking Oil
- Salt to season the chicken
Mango Salsa
- 1/2 Ripe Mango, diced
- 6 Cherry Tomatoes, de-seeded and diced
- 1/2 Echalon Shallot, peeled and finely chopped
- 1/2 Bunch of Corriander, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Lemon/Lime juice
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 Red chilli, de-seeded and finely chooped optional if you like spice (we left it out fo the video)
Serving
- 500 g Cooked White Basmati Rice or enough for 4 people
Instructions
Mango Salsa
- Cut the mango into small chunksTip-Top - Youtube how to cut a mango if it's your first time, as they can be tricky.
- De-seed and dice the tomatoes; peel, remove the first layer of the shallot and finely dice; finely chop the corrainder and de-seed and finely dice the chilli if using.
- Mix all the fruit and veggies in a bowl. Drizzle with the citrus juice (either lemon or lime) and season with a little touch of salt.
- Put into an air tight container to leave in the firdge whilst we pre and cook the mango chicken.Top-Tip: This will allow the salsa to develop flavour and infuse.
Sticky Mango Chicken
- Prepare the chicken thighs by cutting off any extra fat, gristle or bone that may be left on. Place to one side.Top-Tip: Do not discard the chicken trimmings. Place these into a baking tray and bake for around 30-40 minutes at 200C until the fat has been released to liquid and the trimmings are dark golden brown. Place this fat into a tough glass jar and store in the fridge ready to use as cooking fat.
- Combine the mango chutney, soy sauce, garlic and vinegar into a bowl and combine well together. Add about 150ml of water to loosen, mix well again.
- Place the pan on a medium high heat and add the cooking fat / oil.Top-Tip: We like to use cast iron to cook the chicken as it transfers heat so well, and develops a crazy good crust on the chicken.
- Add the chicken thighs smooth side down and cook on this side until golden all over.
- Flip the chicken and do the same on this side. Cook until golden brown but internal temperature is at least 80-85C. Remove from the pan.Top-Tip: Chicken is safe to eat at 65-70C, but tighs are at their best at 80-85C)
- Reduce the pan heat to medium then add the mango sauce. What it sizzle!
- Use the sizzling sauce to deglaze the pan. Use a wooden spatula to scrape any golden bits that have stuck to the pan.Top-Tip: Cast iron will have lots of sticky, crsipy golden pieces of chicken left on the bottom. We want this as it adds depth of flavour, make sure you scrape all these off when the sauce is bubbling. Get that combined with the sauce.
- When the sauce has reduced to a nice thick-ish sticky constiency add the chicken back in and warm through. Coat the chicken in the sauce until fully covered and sticky. Take off the heat.Note - if using a cast iron, the pan will still cook the chicken off the heat.
Serving
- Serve with fluffy, piping hot rice, a couple tbsp of the mango salsa and two chicken thighs per person sliced or diced or even whole - your call!Enjoy!
Notes
- Youtube how to cut a mango if it's your first time, as they can be tricky.
- Allowing the mango salsa to sit in the fridge for 20-20 minutes will allow it to develop flavour and infuse.
- IMPORTANT - Do not discard the chicken trimmings. Place these into a baking tray and bake for around 30-40 minutes at 200C until the fat has been released to liquid and the trimmings are dark golden brown. Place this fat into a tough glass jar and store in the fridge ready to use as cooking fat.
- We like to use cast iron to cook the chicken as it transfers heat so well, and develops a crazy good crust on the chicken.
- If using a Cast iron pan, it will have lots of sticky, crispy golden pieces of chicken left on the bottom. We want this as it adds depth of flavour, make sure you scrape all these off when the sauce is bubbling. Get that combined with the sauce.
- If using, a cast iron pan will still cook the chicken off the heat.
- Chicken is safe to eat at 65-70C, but tighs are at their best at 80-85C)
