Lemongrass chicken on hokkien noodles

There are lots of ways to play around with this dish – during the week I made it twice – once with steamed bok choy sprinkled with spring onions and tonight with brocollini and roasted peanuts. Both versions worked well. It would also be great served with rice.

Ingredients
2 sticks of lemongrass, outer leaves removed, tender pale middle section roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic
generous thumb sized piece of ginger
2 birds exye chillies, seeded
4 shallots (pickling onions)
vegetable oil
800 grams chicken thigh fillet, chopped into bite sized pieces
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt flakes
1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 packet fresh hokkien noodles
1 bunch brocollini, chopped in half lengthwise
4 tablespoons roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
1 bunch coriander, chopped

Method
Roughly chop the lemongrass, garlic, ginger and onions and pop into the small bowl of the food processor along with the chilli. Process until finely chopped and set aside.

Chop chicken into bite sized pieces.

Boil water, pour over noodles.

Heat a wok until hot, add a dash of oil and fry together the lemongrass mixture for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Remove from the wok and set aside.

Cook chicken in a couple of batches (another splash of oil may be needed). At this stage the chicken needs to be browned but not cooked through.

Return all batches of chicken to the wok along with the lemongrass. Sprinkle in brown sugar and one teaspoon of salt cook for a couple of minutes while the chicken caramelises.

Meanwhile prepare brocollini by bringing a saucepan of water to the boil. Add a teaspoon of salt and the brocollini. Cool for about three minutes, or until the stalks are just tender. Drain and set aside.

Add the oyster sauce and one tablespoon of water to the chicken. Stir though then cover for about three minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce thickens a little. Drain noodles.

To serve – divide noodles into bowls top with brocollini and chicken. Scatter with peanuts and coriander.

Serves 4

Adapted from lemongrass chicken on rice vermicelli published in Gourmet Traveller – September 2001

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Lemon chicken skewers with guacamole

A recipe featuring sour cream is guaranteed to catch my attention, and this colourful dish also features my absolute favourite dip, guacamole. I make this dip fairly frequently – it is a great to serve with drinks, and is well worth memorising the ratios and playing around with the flavours.

Ingredients
Skewers
2 skinless chicken breast fillets (approximately 500 grams), diced
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 lemon
1 red capsicum
1 green capsicum
5 small pickling onions (shallots), quartered
olive oil
Guacamole
2 avocados
2 tomatoes, diced
1 lemon
3 spring onions
salt and pepper
Plus
small tub sour cream

Method
Marinate chicken in lemon and garlic – juice and zest one lemon, finely dice the garlic and chop chicken into bite sized pieces. Throw in to a bowl along with paprika. Mix together and set aside to marinate in the fridge for at least half an hour.

If using bamboo skewers, soak in water for half an hour.

Meanwhile make the guacamole – dice the tomatoes, juice the lemon and slice spring onions on the diagonal. Halve the avocados, remove the stone (grab a sharp knife firmly hit the seed with the blade and give it a twist) then scoop the flesh into a bowl and mash with a fork. Add tomato and mix together. Season to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper until the guacamole is zingy. Sprinkle with spring onion and set aside.

Chop capsicums into bite sized pieces. Peel the onions, cut into quarters lengthwise then halve. Microwave the capsicums and onions, covered, for 1 minute – this gives the vegetables a head start, as they need a little longer to cook.

Assemble skewers by alternating the chicken, capsicum and onion. Sprinkle with salt and a grind of pepper.

Heat a frypan (or barbecue) over a high heat with a splash of olive oil. Cook, turning fairly frequently for about 6 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Don’t crowd the frypan – the aim is for the skewers to sear nicely, rather than bubble in marinade.

To serve, place skewers on a plate with a dollop of sour cream, guacamole and perhaps some steamed rice, salad or turkish bread.

Makes 8 skewers.

Inspired by Mexican chicken skewers with guacamole from Delicious magazine, November 2005

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Pan-fried chicken and cauliflower with lemon, mustard and butter sauce

This meal is quick to prepare and big on flavour. Just over half an hour from flicking on the oven to popping on the plate. Lovely served with corn on the cobb and steamed beans.

Ingredients
1/2 cauliflower, trimmed
olive oil
3 chicken breasts (or about 800g of minute chicken – which is chicken breast chopped in half widthwise to produce two thin slices)
80g butter, chopped
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
1 lemon, cut into 6 wedges
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons hot water
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
2 tbs finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Method
Heat oven to 200c.

Chop cauliflower into 3 cm thick slices. Place in a small roasting dish along with a quarter of a cup of water. Drizzle with olive oil and sea salt and ground pepper. Bake for 25 minutes – or until the cauliflower is golden.

Lightly toast almonds in a small frypan, set aside.

Finely chop parley, set aside. Slice garlic and set aside. If you can’t get your hands on minute steaks, halve chicken breasts widthwise.

Heat butter and garlic in a small saucepan over a medium to low heat. The butter will start to froth. At this point, squeeze the lemon wedges into the butter while whisking. Mix in the mustard, hot water and toasted almonds. Set aside and don’t think about the calories.

Heat a large frypan add olive oil and chicken breasts (in two batches). Cook for about 4 minutes each side, or until golden brown. Leave chicken in the pan, off the heat, if the other elements are still cooking.

To serve reheat the sauce (pop in juices from the chicken), place vegetables on a plate, top with chicken, spoon over the
dressing and sprinkle with parsley.

Serves 4

From Delicious magazine, July 2007.

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Chicken laksa

This nourishing, flavoured packed meal is quick to prepare and cook – perfect for a mid-week dinner. One chicken breast teamed with tofu and noodles certainly goes a long way.

Ingredients
150g – 200g packet dried vermicelli noodles (packet size may depend on what is available)
olive/vegetable oil
2 tablespoons laksa paste
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup water
1 can coconut milk (400ml)
2 tablespoons oyster or fish sauce
1/2 capsicum, thinly sliced into short matchsticks
1 chicken breast, skin removed thinly sliced
150g fried bean curd or hard tofu, sliced
1 cup coriander, roughly chopped (you could also use spring onions, Vietnamese mint, fresh chilli and Thai basil)
crispy shallots*
1 lime, chopped into wedges

Method
Flick on the kettle. Put vermicelli noodles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave the noodles to soften while you make the laksa.

Get prepared by slicing the chicken into thin strips (about 1cm wide by around 6cm long) , capsicum into short little matchsticks, fried beancurd into bite sized squares and coarsely chop coriander/other herbs.

Heat wok or a large saucepan over a medium heat then add a splash of oil. Add two tablespoons of laksa paste and stir for 2 minutes to bring out the flavours.

Add chicken stock, water, capsicum and coconut milk and heat for a couple of minutes. Then add oyster/fish sauce and chicken strips. The chicken will only take a couple of minutes to cook.

Drain noodles.

To serve, divide noodles between four bowls, top with bean curd. Ladle in the broth then top with a generous amount of coriander and fried shallots and a lime wedge.

Serves 4

* from Asian supermarkets

From Campion and Curtis in the Kitchen – Essential recipes for the modern Australian home – by Allan Campion and Michele Curtis

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Chicken, leek and ginger steamed rice

This is a nice alternative to serving steamed rice as a side to a stir fry. In the end, all the ingredients end up in the same pot, and the rice soaks up the soy sauce and ginger flavour. The result is quite harmonious.

Ingredients
5 chicken thigh fillets
olive oil (or peanut oil)
4 spring onions (3 finely chopped  plus 1 for serving)
2 1/2 tablespoons ginger, finely chopped
2 leeks, halved then sliced
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce*
2 teaspoons shaoxing (also known as shao hsing) cooking wine **
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup jasmine rice, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups of water
Marinade
1 1/2 teaspoons cornflour
2 teaspoons shaoxing cooking wine
2 teaspoons light soy sauce

Method
Chop each chicken thigh into 3cm pieces. (Slicing into thirds along the width then halving to yield 6 pieces works well).

Mix marinade in a bowl large enough to hold the chicken. Add the chicken and mix together. Pop into the fridge for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop the spring onion (white and the green bits). Chop the green tops off the leek. Wash the white section of the leek (check for dirt under the first couple of layers – remove the layers and wash again if you see dirt). Halve lengthways then chop into 5cm pieces. Pull apart the layers. Finely chop the ginger.

Mix together in a teacup the shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce and sugar – set aside.

Remove chicken from the fridge.

Place rice, ½ tablespoon ginger and water into a saucepan (mine was the width of my hand-span) and set aside.

Heat a small amount of oil in a wok. Stir-fry the spring onion, ginger and leek for around 4 minutes until the leek has wilted. Remove from the wok and set aside.

Add chicken to the wok and cook over a high heat for a couple of minutes until the chicken is browned. Add the shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce and sugar. Toss to combine and cook for around 2 minutes. Take the wok off the heat and set aside.

Place the saucepan of rice and water on a high heat, bring to a boil then simmer for about 5 minutes – or until the water is level with the rice. If you test the rice at this point it won’t be cooked through.

Place the chicken in a layer over the rice in the saucepan. Drizzle with any leftover soy sauce from the wok.

Top the chicken mixture with leek, spring onion and ginger.

Place a lid on the saucepan and cook over a low heat for 5 – 6 minutes.

Test some rice to ensure it is cooked through. Remove the saucepan from heat and stand, covered for another 5 minutes. Slice a spring onion (green section) on the diagonal for serving.

Serve sprinkled with spring onion and a grind of pepper.

Serves 4

From Gourmet Traveller, June 2002.

* Dark soy has a thicker consistency and a deeper flavour. It can be found at Asian supermarkets  – and the bottle will last ages (in fact my bottle has moved house three times). Light soy may be substituted. 

** Shaoxing cooking wine is stocked at Asian supermarkets. My favourite is Minh Phat Asian Supermarket on Therry Street opposite the Queen Victoria Market.

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