Waffles with super crispy 5 spice chicken + bacon and black pepper maple butter sauce.

Waffles remind me of breakfast with mum, she would have always made them for us at weekends, she always was so hung up that the whipped egg whites made the best mix. 

They take me back to Belgium too, I definitely remember having liege waffles in leuven, the liege waffles are the ones that are super crispy because of the pearly sugar inside them. In Belgium though, they’re more like, a snack rather than for breakfast like we know them. 

The waffle iron with the deep grids is the one you want, this means that it’ll give pockets for the syrup to hold in, and to be a vessel for the bacon bits.

Add your favourite cocktail and away you go.

Time it takes: 20 minutes, here or there.

For the waffles: 

3 organic eggs, lightly beaten 

100g plain flour 

3tbsp caster sugar 

2tsp baking powder 

75ml milk 

50g butter, melted 

Pinch sea salt 

For the chicken: 

4 chicken thighs, cut into chunks 

100ml buttermilk 

2tbsp chinese five spice 

100g plain flour 

Sunflower oil, for frying 

The bacon pepper sauce: 

1tsp sunflower oil 

1 x 200g streaky bacon, chopped 

2tsp crushed black peppercorns

75g honey 

50ml maple 

25g butter, cubed 

For the waffles, pop the waffle iron on to heat. Add the egg whites to one large bowl, whisk until stiff peaks form. In another bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients with the egg yolks. Fold through the egg whites. Pour a ladle of the mix into each side of the waffle iron. Cook for about 5 minutes until golden. 

For the chicken, add the buttermilk to a  medium bowl with lots of seasoning and the chicken. Drizzle a little of the buttermilk into the flour. Dunk the chicken into the flour and press to coat and create craffly edges. Heat sunflower oil in a large saucepan for the chicken. Add half the chicken at a time, fry for about 5 minutes until super crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon to a tray lined with parchment, it’ll soak up excess oil. Repeat with the remaining chicken. 

For the bacon sauce, heat a large non stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the oil and bacon, fry for 6-8 minutes until crispy and golden, add the black pepper to this followed by the honey, maple and butter. Simmer for about 2 minutes until the sauce visibly drips lusciously off the spoon or coats the back really well. 

To serve, top the waffles with the chicken chunks and drizzle over the sauce.