Velvet Chicken in Indonesian Coconut Milk Peanut Sauce
Absolutely delicious! The way to make this chicken is Josh's favorite. It takes some time to prep (including a bit of marinating) but in the end, the results speak for themselves. The word "velvet" is super descriptive... it literally feels velvety but crunchy when you eat this chicken!
We find that when we are running low on ingredients in the fridge (when it's just about time to go back out to the grocery store to re-stock), we can use all that we have left in a fun stir fry dish. That way nothing goes to waste! For this reason, our stir frys are always different, they all depend on what is in our fridge and freezer at the time of cooking ;)
This time, we had:
Method:
- Prep the chicken:
Put 2 egg whites and a table spoon of corn starch in a bowl and whisk until fluffy.
Cut the chicken up into small, evenly sized chucks and gently fold them into the fluffy egg mixture until coated.
Marinate in the fridge overnight or for at least one hour prior to cooking.
- Veggie prep:
I repeat, these were the ingredients we had today (the ones we used), but you can use broccoli, green beans, carrots... anything, really!
Prep the frozen peas (half a bag) by de-icing them under cold running water. Strain and set aside.
Prep the veggies (green onions and Thai chilis and red bell pepper in our case) by julienning them and set aside.
- Cooking the chicken (Photos 1, 2, 3)
After the chicken marination is complete, heat the Canola oil to frying temperature, in a wok.
Carefully grab one chicken piece at a time and insert each into the hot oil to fry.
Don't overfill the oil with chicken, do it all in batches if necessary (we do!); the chicken should be floating on the surface of the hot oil (it should not be piled up from bottom to top of the oil).
Fry until you see a golden brown color (see the photos below).
Carefully dry the oil off on paper towels and set the chicken aside as you keep cooking it in batches.
- Cooking the chicken and veggies together (Photo 4)
Pour the Canola oil out (be careful! It's SO hot!).
Use a little more Canola Oil (some fresh oil, about 3 tablespoons) to get the wok ready for stir frying the veggies (in our case, the red bell pepper, green onion and Thai chilis).
Once soft but still crunchy, put the pre-cooked chicken in the wok with the veggies.
Mix together for about 5 minutes (this is when the chicken will finish browning and getting more crunchy).
- Indonesian Peanut Sauce time! (Photo 5)
While the chicken and veggies are stir frying, you need to make the peanut sauce mix (if you have a pre-made peanut sauce can or jar, then you won't have to take this step - since we use spice mixes, we need to add a few ingredients to finish off the sauce - just follow the instructions on the packet - we added real chunky peanut butter to the spice mix as well as a bit of coconut milk).
Once the sauce is made, pour it into the wok with the chicken and veggies.
Stir a bit so that it gets warm evenly.
When it's lightly simmering, pour in the peas.
When the peas are warm too, the dish is done!
The final dish!
We love stir fry with rice but noodles are just as yummy!
And we topped it with fresh green onions, but that and/or fresh cilantro would be fantastic too!
We find that when we are running low on ingredients in the fridge (when it's just about time to go back out to the grocery store to re-stock), we can use all that we have left in a fun stir fry dish. That way nothing goes to waste! For this reason, our stir frys are always different, they all depend on what is in our fridge and freezer at the time of cooking ;)
This time, we had:
- 3 chicken breasts
- half a bag of frozen peas
- 2 eggs
- corn starch
- 4-5 green onions
- 1 red bell pepper
- 3-4 green thai chilis (we freeze a bag of several chilies so we can grab a few at a time to use)
- fresh ginger (we freeze the entire root, so we can use it "fresh" every time)
- small can of coconut milk
- one packet of locally made Indonesian Peanut Sauce mix (spices in a packet all natural, no MSG nor flavor enhancers, made in Vancouver WA: The Rijsttafel Company)
- chunky peanut butter
- a variety of asian oils and vinegars (chili oil, canola oil, sesame oil, rice vinegar, fish sauce)
Since there are a few things to do for prep and cooking, I have included many more photos throughout the process, versus just the final pretty dish ;)
Method:
- Prep the chicken:
Put 2 egg whites and a table spoon of corn starch in a bowl and whisk until fluffy.
Cut the chicken up into small, evenly sized chucks and gently fold them into the fluffy egg mixture until coated.
Marinate in the fridge overnight or for at least one hour prior to cooking.
- Veggie prep:
I repeat, these were the ingredients we had today (the ones we used), but you can use broccoli, green beans, carrots... anything, really!
Prep the frozen peas (half a bag) by de-icing them under cold running water. Strain and set aside.
Prep the veggies (green onions and Thai chilis and red bell pepper in our case) by julienning them and set aside.
- Cooking the chicken (Photos 1, 2, 3)
After the chicken marination is complete, heat the Canola oil to frying temperature, in a wok.
Carefully grab one chicken piece at a time and insert each into the hot oil to fry.
Don't overfill the oil with chicken, do it all in batches if necessary (we do!); the chicken should be floating on the surface of the hot oil (it should not be piled up from bottom to top of the oil).
Fry until you see a golden brown color (see the photos below).
Carefully dry the oil off on paper towels and set the chicken aside as you keep cooking it in batches.
1
2
3
- Cooking the chicken and veggies together (Photo 4)
Pour the Canola oil out (be careful! It's SO hot!).
Use a little more Canola Oil (some fresh oil, about 3 tablespoons) to get the wok ready for stir frying the veggies (in our case, the red bell pepper, green onion and Thai chilis).
Once soft but still crunchy, put the pre-cooked chicken in the wok with the veggies.
Mix together for about 5 minutes (this is when the chicken will finish browning and getting more crunchy).
4
- Indonesian Peanut Sauce time! (Photo 5)
While the chicken and veggies are stir frying, you need to make the peanut sauce mix (if you have a pre-made peanut sauce can or jar, then you won't have to take this step - since we use spice mixes, we need to add a few ingredients to finish off the sauce - just follow the instructions on the packet - we added real chunky peanut butter to the spice mix as well as a bit of coconut milk).
Once the sauce is made, pour it into the wok with the chicken and veggies.
Stir a bit so that it gets warm evenly.
When it's lightly simmering, pour in the peas.
When the peas are warm too, the dish is done!
5
The final dish!
We love stir fry with rice but noodles are just as yummy!
And we topped it with fresh green onions, but that and/or fresh cilantro would be fantastic too!
Buon Appetito! <3
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