Spiced nuts

These spiced nuts are a great accompaniment to afternoon drinks. Tossed in a spice mix of cayenne pepper, five-spice and soy sauce, these roasted nuts will bring a punch and can be prepared in advance.

Credit: Feast magazine

• serves

  6

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 250 g raw, mixed unsalted nuts
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• ½ tsp five spice
• ½ tsp cayenne

Instructions

Preheat oven to 220°C. Pour nuts onto an oven tray and splash with 1 tbsp soy sauce. Using your fingertips, toss nuts to ensure they’re coated all over; it’s fine if some soy splashes on the tray.

Roast nuts on the middle shelf of your oven, tossing them regularly, for a few minutes until the soy sauce is just starting to dry on the tray, but has not blackened. Remove nuts, add remaining 1 tbsp soy sauce and toss nuts to bring the dried soy sauce back into the mix.

Return to oven and roast, tossing every minute or so, for 5 minutes or until tray starts to smoke. The nuts should roast in total for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine spices in a bowl. Remove nuts from oven, toss in spices and return to tray to cool. They are best eaten the same day, but will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Photography by Alan Benson.

As seen in Feast magazine, December 2011, Issue 4.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.