Days of The Dragon

I’ve never entered any kind of cooking competition or such, but I just couldn’t pass up this month’s Weekend Wokking created by Wandering Chopsticks. I love the flavor of coconut – though, I admit I’m not a big fan of the texture of coconut meat if it’s not finely shredded.

Hosting Weekend Wokking this month is Ivy of Precious Pea.

For this month’s Weekend Wokking, I’m presenting my recipe for Coconut Marinated Chicken Over Coconut Rice. I had a similar recipe at a Thai restaurant, but it also had curry. I made up this recipe based on what I thought that dish had in it, axed the curry and added a touch of anise.

What follows is the recipe and instructions to make this dish.

• 2 Cans coconut milk
• 1 t Finely ground white pepper
• 1 T Sugar
• 1 T Fish sauce
• 1 T Finely ground ginger root
• 1 – 2 pounds Chicken breast sliced into small strips
• 2 cups Rice (the measuring cup that comes with a rice cooker is less than an actual cup)
• 1/3 cup finely shredded coconut
• 1 piece of star anise

To begin, make the marinade for the chicken. Place 1 1/2 cans of coconut milk into a pan over low heat. Save the remaining coconut milk in the fridge. Add the pepper, sugar, fish sauce and ginger. Optional items that you could put into the marinade might include hot pepper paste or oil, lemon juice or lemon grass, and garlic. Very slowly bring the liquid up to a simmer, no need to boil. Turn off the heat and add the star anise – remove the anise once you begin to smell it (usually after 3-5 minutes). If you want a stronger anise flavor, leave in as long as you like.

Remove the marinade to a heat safe container and refrigerate until cold. Once cold, add the chicken and marinate for a minimum of 2 hours. I usually let it go at least 4 hours.

Now, it’s time to make the rice. Be sure to wait and not make the rice until you’re almost ready to eat – you don’t want it to dry out or get cold.

For two cups of rice, I do the following to get the coconut flavor: into the rice cooker I put 2 cups of briefly rinsed rice, 1 1/2 cups of water, and 1/2 cup of coconut milk (leftover from earlier). This imparts a slight coconut taste to the rice, you can add more coconut milk in place of water for a stronger flavor, but I think the subtle flavor is preferable. Cook your rice as you normally would. When your rice is almost done it’s time to make use of the shredded coconut. I place the coconut in a disposable foil pan and spread it out evenly. Then, I place that pan inside my cast iron skillet and heat it just until you start to smell the coconut – I don’t like it browned, just heated enough to make it release its aroma and taste.

Now, place the coconut in your rice and mix thoroughly. The rice is done, keep warm and covered until the chicken is done.

Now, it’s time to cook the chicken. Place a tablespoon or two of cooking oil (I used coconut oil, since this is Weekend Wokking w/Coconut!). But, any vegetable oil should be just fine.

Quickly cook the chicken until done throughout and tender. Garnish with some cilantro, and ENJOY!

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