FOOD NEWS
Ireland's Spice Bag Is A Tasty And Eclectic Fried Mash Up
BY VANESSA NIX ANTHONY
A popular Irish-Chinese mashup dish known as a spice bag tosses salty, spicy, and crispy fried foods together. These delicious bags of treats are gaining popularity worldwide.
Irish spice bags feature a combination of battered and fried meat or vegetarian alternatives, fries, bell peppers, onions, seasonings, and a warm curry dipping sauce on the side.
The meat, typically chicken, is seasoned with salt, chili flakes, Chinese five spice, white pepper, and dried chili powder like Sichuan red chili powder, gochugaru, or cayenne.
The dish is then tossed into a bag to allow the spices and seasonings to evenly coat the food. The bag makes for a portable meal or an impromptu eating surface when ripped open.
Spice bags were created by Dublin’s Sunflower Chinese restaurant. The dish recalls a fusion of British chicken shop foods with Chinese spices and Chinese-Indian curries.
You can easily make the dish at home by marinating chicken in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, salt, red chili flakes, black pepper, Chinese five-spice, and sugar.
Next, sauté yellow onion, green onions, jalapeños, and habanero peppers. To make the curry, combine butter, flour, curry powder, chicken stock, honey, soy sauce, salt, and pepper.
Slice potatoes into French fries, then beat together egg white and cornstarch to coat the chicken. Fry the potatoes, chicken, and any other additions and toss them together.
Besides chicken, the main component of a spice bag can be made with anything from shrimp to pork to beef, or vegetarian options like fried tofu or cauliflower.