Thai sticky chicken & ribs
Marinate the meat the night before for maximum flavour. This marinade gives works equally well on different meats, fish and even prawns.
Serves 6 Prep 30 mins plus marinating Cook 11/ hrs 2
3 small green chillies,
chopped small bunch coriander, stalks chopped and leaves used for the dipping sauce 3 garlic cloves, chopped 3cm piece ginger, chopped 1 tsp ground turmeric 2 tbsp soy sauce 4 tbsp fish sauce 8 tbsp light brown soft sugar 2 tbsp honey 4 chicken thighs, skin on 2 pork loin ribs, about 1kg steamed rice, to serve
FOR THE CHILLI-LIME SAUCE 200g caster sugar 1 garlic clove, finely sliced 3 tbsp white wine vinegar 1 lime, juiced 1 tbsp fish sauce 1 red bird’s eye chilli, finely
sliced handful coriander leaves (from coriander in the marinade), chopped
1 To make the marinade, put the chillies, coriander stalks, garlic, ginger, turmeric, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and honey in a food processor. Whizz to a rough paste. Cut each chicken thigh into 2 pieces down the side of bone (so one side keeps the bone). Put all the chicken and ribs in a ceramic dish or suitable plastic container and pour over the marinade. Turn the meat over so it’s coated, cover and put it in the fridge until needed (up to 24 hrs).
2 To make the sauce, put the sugar in a pan with 250ml water, bring to the boil, simmer for a few mins to make a sugar syrup, then stir in garlic, vinegar, lime juice, fish sauce and chilli. Cool, then stir in the coriander. Will keep for 24 hrs in the fridge.
3 Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Lift the ribs into a baking dish, cover with foil and put in the oven for 1 hr. Add the chicken pieces around the ribs, turn up the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and cook, uncovered, for 20 mins or so until the chicken is cooked through. By now the surface of the ribs and chicken should be quite brown and the marinade slightly sticky; if it isn’t, put the lot under the grill – but keep an eye on it.
4 Cut the ribs into sections and pile onto a platter with the chicken, drizzle over some sauce and serve the rest alongside with the salad and some cooked rice. PER SERVING 533 kcals, fat 27g, saturates 9g, carbs 39g, sugars 38g, fibre none, protein 35g, salt 3.3g