Sticky Lime and Lemongrass Chicken with Cucumber
A version of sweet and sour chicken that everyone is sure to enjoy and sure to tempt your taste buds.
Ingredients
For the marinade:
4 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of grated palm sugar
3cm piece peeled ginger
2 tablespoons lemongrass, thinly sliced
Large pinch chilli flakes
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
2 tablespoons Japanese Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
Zest of 1 lime
For the chicken:
1 ½ cups jasmine rice
600g skinned, boned chicken thighs – slice 2cm thick across the grain of the meat
2 kaffir lime leaves
½ cucumber, peeled and sliced thinly
To garnish:
½ cup crushed or chopped roasted unsalted peanuts
Small handful each of mint, basil and coriander sprigs
Method
Put all ingredients for the marinade into a small food processor or mortar and pestle and process or pound until you have a coarse paste.
Put the rice into a saucepan and add enough water to come 2cm above the level of the rice. Bring to a rolling boil then cover and turn the heat to the lowest setting. Cook without uncovering for any reason for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and without uncovering, allow to stand for 5 minutes. Uncover and gently fluff up the rice with a fork but don’t mash the rice grains. Cover and reserve until needed.
Put the marinade mix into a bowl and add the chicken. Mix well
Heat a wok over a moderate heat and add the chicken mixture and the kaffir lime leaves. Cover and cook the chicken for 5 minutes then uncover, turn up the heat a little and stir-fry until the chicken is cooked through and the chicken is browned, all liquid has evaporated and the mixture is sticky. Taste and season with salt if required
To serve: Remove the chicken from the heat and serve the chicken with the cucumber, peanuts and herbs and with the rice on the side