Dixon Street Chicken

Food and recipes form such a major part of our family and its traditions - the food we all shared and ate and were taught to make by our elders.  Many family memories centre around food and cooking and mealtimes - so many family events involve gatherings to eat.

Dixon Street Chicken was a favourite creation of my mother's during my childhood - various incarnations of this recipe appeared regularly on our plates at least every week or two.  My sister and I used to refer to it as 'Chicken a la Cupboard and Freezer' as the contents of the dish depended on what was left in the fridge, freezer and cupboard at the end of the week.  The recipe was never the same twice.

After our mother's death last year, my sister and I undertook some major cleaning up, sorting out, throwing away and sharing of the contents of our family home.  One particular part of this adventure involved sorting through a drawer in which our mother kept all her favourite recipes - several favourite cookery books along with many pages torn from magazines and handwritten recipes copied from who knows where.  Many had notes written on them - things like substitutions of ingredients and notes on who particularly liked the dish.  In amongst these, torn from a magazine, we found the original recipe for Dixon Street Chicken.

We were amazed!  We didn't know there actually was an original recipe for Dixon Street Chicken at all.  Mum always made it up as she went along - we never saw her refer to a recipe - and we just assumed the name was used to give an answer to the regular "What's for dinner" question.

Below is the recipe in full

The original Dixon Street chicken

3-4 chicken thigh fillets, skin off, chopped
1 packet chicken noodle soup mix
1 tbs oil
1 onion, diced
1-2 cups chopped vegetables (eg carrots, broccoli, zucchini)
1 tsp cornflour with 2 tbs water, if needed
1 tbs soy sauce
1tbs sugar (optional, to taste)
Boiled noodles or rice, to serve

Simmer chicken pieces in chicken noodle soup mix and water to cover until cooked (10-15 minutes). Drain and reserve juices.

Heat oil in large pan, add onion and vegetables and stir fry until almost cooked. Add chicken juices and thicken with cornflour and water if needed. Add soy sauce and sugar to taste. Add chicken pieces. Serve with boiled noodles or rice. Serves 3-4.