Recipe: Thai coconut chicken salad
Barbara Browne is a fan of Christchurch restaurant and bar JDV, and says its standout dish is the coconut poached chicken salad. She loves the fresh coriander, mint, chilli, and lime flavours, and wants to recreate the dish at home. ‘‘The Thai flavours add just enough heat to make your lips tingle. It is absolutely delicious.’’
We contacted the restaurant, which happily shared the recipe.
Coconut poached chicken salad
Serves 6
For the poached chicken and prawns:
❚ 2 litres chicken stock
❚ 150ml fish sauce
❚ 30g ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
❚ 5 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced
❚ 2 lemongrass stalks, bruised
❚ 12 large king prawns, peeled
❚ 1 whole chicken
For the coconut and ginger dressing:
❚ 1 teaspoon shrimp paste
❚ 30g ginger
❚ Large handful coriander
❚ 2 garlic cloves
❚ 5 white peppercorns
❚ 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
❚ 150g palm sugar, crushed
❚ 50ml fish sauce
❚ 2 limes, juice only
❚ 100g grated coconut, fresh/dried
For the salad:
❚ 1 cup mint leaves
❚ 1 cup coriander leaves
❚ 4 red chillies, seeds removed and finely sliced
❚ 1⁄2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, crushed
❚ 1⁄2 cup fried shallots
❚ 1⁄2 bag mung bean sprouts
❚ Lime wedges to serve
For the poached chicken, place chicken stock in a large, deep-sided pot and bring to the boil. Add fish sauce, ginger, kaffir lime and lemongrass. Once boiling remove from the heat and allow to infuse for 15 minutes. Remove about 1 litre of stock to use to poach the prawns. Add prawns to the smaller mix and poach until just cooked, remove from stock and cool. Add the chicken, return to the boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for
20 minutes, remove from the heat. Weigh down chicken with a plate, cover and let stand until chicken is cooked through (40-50 minutes). Carefully lift chicken from stock, set aside to cool, then shred meat.
For the dressing, wrap shrimp paste in tinfoil and roast in a hot oven until dry (15-20 minutes), once cool grind it. Pound ginger, coriander, garlic, peppercorns in a mortar and pestle to a fine paste.
Heat oil over a medium heat in a saucepan, add the paste, stir until golden. Add palm sugar, stir until melted, cook until a light caramel colour. Add coconut and shrimp paste, bring to a simmer, add fish sauce and 60ml water. Return to the boil then remove from the heat. Check seasoning is sweet and salty. Let cool to room temperature, stir through lime juice.
To put the salad together, place shredded chicken and prawns in a bowl, add mint, coriander, chilli, peanuts, fried shallots, mung bean sprouts and coconut dressing and toss to combine. Place in serving bowl, scatter with extra peanuts and lime wedges. Enjoy.
JDV 190 Aikmans Rd, Merivale, Christchurch. Open seven days
9.30am to late.
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