Sticky orange and maple chicken legs with quick pickled onion

This version of what we used to call “sticky chicken” growing up is made with a sauce that you can simply pour over a tray of chicken pieces and let the oven do the hard work for you. Made with lots of freshly squeezed orange, fish sauce, star anise, maple syrup and dark soy, it's also easy to chuck over wings and serve as a Christmas party nibble.

Timings

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Serves

5

Ingredients

• 4 large oranges, juiced

• 3 tsp fish sauce

• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce

• 1 tbsp maple syrup

• 3 star anise

• 5 chicken legs

• An onion, thinly sliced

• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar

• A lime, cut into wedges, to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7.

2. Put the orange juice, fish sauce, soy, maple and star anise in a large bowl and mix well.

3. Prod the skin of the chicken legs with a sharp knife. Put the legs in the bowl with the marinade and turn them over in the marinade to coat.

4. Put the legs in a large roasting tin and cover with the marinade. Roast for 15 minutes, then pull out of the oven and baste the chicken legs with the bubbling sauce. Put back in for another 15 minutes and baste again before roasting for a final ten minutes. The skin should be well browned, the meat soft and cooked through, and there should still be plenty of sauce in the base of the pan.

5. While the chicken is cooking, put the onion in a small bowl with the vinegar and a big pinch of salt. Scrunch the onion in the vinegar and salt and leave to sit while the chicken cooks.

6. To serve, lay the chicken legs on a warm serving dish and pour over the sauce. Scatter onion slices over them and serve with extra lime wedges.