Recipe ingredients and directions:
You should be able to get fresh pandan leaves from an asian market.
They are used both as a flavour here and also as a biodegradable
packaging – much better for the planet than styrofoam…
marinade
——–
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons coconut milk
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
a large pinch of freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons rice flour (if not available use cornstarch)
1 fresh pandan leaf, chopped small.
Mix the sauce ingredients, and cut about half a pound of chicken breast
meat into largish bite sized pieces, and marinade in the sauce for about
2-3 hours.
The pieces of chicken are then wrapped in pandan leaves: this can be
done in several "elegant" ways, but the simplest is to form a square of
leaf, put the chicken in the centre, pick up the corners and secure with
a wooden toothpick (if you want to be real basic, but highly authentic,
use a stapler to secure the ends – but don’t forget to warn your guests
to remove the staples!)
Sauce
—–
The sauce is a variation on the popular prik dong (pickled chilis): mix
two tablespoons of sugar in 5 tablespoons of white vinegar (rice vinegar
if you can get it), and in a small saucepan reduce this to about half
its volume. Add a pinch of salt and a couple of tablespoons of finely
sliced mixed red and green prik ki nu (dynamite or birdseye chilis).
Transfer to a suitable serving bowl and allow to cool.
The wrapped chicken is steamed (in any available steamer) for about 10
minutes, after which time the leaves should be soft, and then deep fried
in hot oil until the chicken is fully cooked (takes a couple of
minutes).
Serving
——-
This is essentially Thai finger food: you can eat it by holding the
pandan leaf and taking the piece in your mouth, or use the toothpick to
pick it up, or of course use chopsticks or western style table utensils.
You can if you prefer keep the steamed parcels in the fridge till you
want them and then heat them on the table in a small deep fryer or
fondue pot.
Category: Asian Recipes
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