Pandan Chicken

This is one dish I have always wanted to try but the thought of wrapping individual pieces of bite size chicken can be quite daunting when cooking for over 30 persons! Anyway I finally cooked it for the Reunion dinner this Chinese New year and it was a hit! I found this recipe in the internet but as usual changed it to suit my liking ( and convenience ) . I have omitted the chillies so that the kids can enjoy them . So if you like them spicy , add a few chillies to blend in the marinade.


Marinade:

Blend together the following:
50 ml coconut milk
2 tsp ground coriander seeds
2 tsp dark soy sauce
2 Tbsp fish sauce
2 Tbsp oyster sauce
3 cloves garlic
1 thumb-size piece ginger , peeled and slices
juice from 1 lime
2 Tbsp Pandan juice

1 whole chicken deboned and cut into bite size. Marinade with the above blended marinade for at least 4 hours.

To wrap the chicken : use 1 pandan leave per piece of chicken.

Fasten the leave with a toothpick . I found that it is better to just wrap it with one turn of leave. If there are too many layers of leave, the chicken inside takes longer to cook and does not taste as good - tasted more "steamed" than fried.

Deep fry with moderate heat till leave turns slightly brown.

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THE PANDAN LEAVE


The pandan leave is from the family of screwpine - botanically known as Pandanus amaryllifolius which is the only Pandanus species with fragrant leaves.

These leaves are widely used in cooking and baking is Asia . While fresh pandan juice is preferred , Pandan flavors and essences are also readily available in the market.

For the locals, Pandan leaves is one of the essential plants to grow in the garden.