Spiced Chicken Wrapped in Pandan Leaves
Thai Pandan Leaf Chicken is a very popular dish and a favourite to many, especially in Asian countries. To put it simply, Pandan Leaf Chicken is actually fried chicken wrapped in pandan leaves. The star of this dish is of course the pandan leaves, also known as screw pine leaves.
Many Benefits of Fragrant Pandan Leaves
Known as bai toey hom in Thailand, daun pandan in Malaysia and takonoki in Japan, pandan leaves is one widely used ingredient in Asian cooking. Crowned as the Vanilla of Asia, pandan leaves have a beautiful green colour and signature sweet floral-like fragrance which is infused in the food it is cooked with. Pandan also has many health benefits. For instance, natural detoxification, lowering blood sugar levels and aiding nervous system.
A Thai Style Fried Chicken with Unique Combination of Aroma and Spice
To make this dish, first marinate the bite size chicken thigh or breast meat in fresh spices. Then, wrap the marinated chicken pieces in aromatic green pandan leaves. For a juicier texture, chicken thigh is recommended. When fried, the pandan leaves infuse the chicken meat with its naturally sweet taste and soft nutty aroma.
Aside from the beautifully wrapped appearance, the pandan leaves certainly heightens the taste of the succulent fried chicken wrapped in it. The combination of freshly grounded spices and fragrant pandan leaves makes a unique blend of aroma and spices, all in one.
Best served hot, this fried chicken dish can be eaten as an appetizer, or as a part of a main meal served with hot aromatic white rice. You can also prepare this dish ahead of time. Simply wrap them and place in the refrigerator, then deep fry to piping hot perfection before serving.
As usual, enjoy!
Thai Pandan Leaf Chicken Recipe 泰式香兰鸡
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Ingredients
Ingredients
- 500 gm chicken meat, chicken thigh or breast meat
- 1 piece ginger, grated
- 1 tsp salt
- 30 pieces pandan leaves/screwpine leaves, big leaves, washed
- 3 cups oil, for deep frying
Marinade:(Blend together)
- 6 pieces shallots, sliced
- 3 pips garlic, sliced
- 2 stick lemongrass, sliced the top
- 1 inch ginger, young ginger
- ½ inch fresh turmeric, sliced
- 2 stalk coriander roots, chopped
Seasonings:
- 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp brown sugar, or palm sugar
- 1 tsp cornflour
- 2 tbsp coconut milk powder
Cut chicken meat into small but thick pieces as the meat will get smaller when fried. Then mix well with salt, grated ginger and set aside 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut shallots, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, turmeric and coriander roots into smaller pieces.
In a blender, place the cut ingredients and blend into a paste.
Mix well the paste with the seasonings.
Then add coconut milk powder and mix well.
Next, add the paste into the chicken pieces and make sure its thoroughly mixed.
Set aside to marinade for 2 hours. Then prepare to wrap the marinated chicken meat.
Before wrapping, clean the pandan leaves in cold water and wipe dry.
To wrap the pandan chicken, hold leaf so that the flat side of the pandan leaf is on your left hand side and the pointed side of the pandan leaf is on your right hand side. Press a little along the leaf.
Then flip it over so that the side that is not shiny faces upwards.
Now fold the ends upwards, making sure the flat side is much shorter than the pointed side. Cross the long side UNDER the short side to create a pocket.
Tuck a piece of marinated chicken into the pocket.
Make sure the back of the pocket is supported while we pull the leaf through the loop. Bring the long (pointed) end of the leaf down and thread it through the loop. Use the thumb or index finger to help thread the leaf through.
Pull gently to make sure the chicken meat is secured in the pocket.
On the other side, tuck the chicken meat in if it is protruding.
Wrap the long end of the leaf back over and pull the leaf through the loop again to secure.
Cut off a little of the excess leaf from the pointed side. Keep the base side long as it can be used to help lower the wraps into the hot oil when you deep fry.
Continue to wrap the balance of the marinated chicken meat with the pandan leaves. And we're ready to deep fry the pandan chicken.
To fry the chicken, first heat up the oil to medium heat. A wooden chopstick inserted into the oil will just have bubbles around it.
Slowly, lower the wrapped pandan chicken into the hot oil. Deep fry in batches, about 4 minutes on each side. Chicken is done when the oil stops sizzling and the exposed area of the meat turns golden brown.
Remove from the frying pan and place the fried pandan chicken on paper towel to drain off excess oil.
Serve the fried pandan chicken hot and Enjoy!
6 comments
Can I use santan to replace the coconut milk powder?
Yes, you can use liquid coconut milk (Santan) to replace the powder. But do not put too much as it will cause the marinated pandan chicken to be wet. The reason I use powder form is just for that reason. You can use santan as it gives the same flavour. Thanks
Lovely photography n simple to follow
Thanks, enjoy!
Thank you for the step-by-step explanation & photos.
Thank you. Do stay tuned for more recipes like this 🙂