Pandan Chicken

Added by: Norah Added on: January 10, 2020

Norah's Cooking Diary

Pandan Chicken

Hello everyone. Welcome to Norah’s Cooking Diary.

In this video I am going to share with you a Pandan Chicken Recipe.

Chicken pieces marinated with lemongrass, ground coriander, coconut milk among other ingredients and wrapped in Pandan leaves make a delicious and flavorful appetizer. The excitement of unwrapping each parcel will make your heart skip a beat.

Pandan leaves are also known as Pandanus or Screwpine leaves and are commonly used as a flavoring and coloring for desserts and sweet beverages in Asian countries.

The Pandan Chicken dish is a Thai influenced recipe that is popular in Malaysia and Singapore. This dish is considered as an appetizer and is super easy to prepare. You might find that there are many different recipes to prepare this dish. There is no right or wrong recipe to prepare this delicious and aromatic dish.

Happy cooking 😉

Several notes here to share with you:

You could substitute chicken thighs with chicken breasts if you prefer. Pork and beef also go well with this recipe.
You could use frozen Pandan leaves (also known as Screwpine leaves) if fresh leaves are not available. It is recommended to choose the Pandan leaves with a wider surface so it is easier to wrap the chicken pieces.
You could substitute Sriracha Chili Sauce with other types of chili sauce that you prefer.
You could substitute the fresh Turmeric with about 2 Tsp Ground Turmeric.
You could substitute Palm Sugar with Brown Sugar.

Here is a quick rundown of the recipe:

Ingredients for Pandan Chicken (Serves 4-6)

±500 Gm Boneless Chicken Thigh
24 Pcs Pandan Leaves
±50 Gm Lemongrass, sliced
±25 Gm Turmeric, sliced
6 Cloves Garlic
2 Tbsp Sriracha Chili Sauce
2 Tbsp Ginger Juice
2 Tbsp Fish Sauce
1 Tbsp Ground Coriander
1 Tsp Ground Cumin
½ Tsp Ground Black Pepper
30 Gm Palm Sugar
80 ml Coconut Milk
1½ Cup Cooking Oil

Method of Preparation

Pound lemongrass, garlic and turmeric into a paste with a mortar. Transfer the paste into a bowl. Add Ground Coriander, Ground Cumin, Ground Black Pepper, Palm Sugar, Sriracha Chili Sauce, Ginger Juice, Fish Sauce and Coconut Milk into the bowl. Stir the mixture together to mix well and set the bowl aside.
Cut the chicken thighs horizontally into halves and further cut each half into bite sizes approx. 2m wide to get 24 chicken pieces. Transfer the chicken pieces into the bowl containing the mixture prepared earlier. Fold the chicken pieces and the mixture together to coat well and set them aside to marinate for 30 mins.
Fold each of the prepared Pandan leaves to make a “pocket”. Insert a piece of the marinated chicken into the “pocket” and fold the Pandan leaf to enclose the chicken inside. Repeat the wrapping steps until all the chicken pieces are wrapped with the Pandan leaves. Transfer the Pandan wrapped chicken pieces into a bowl and leave them aside for 30 mins to let the aroma of the Pandan leaves infused into the chicken.
After 30 mins, heat up the cooking oil in a pan over MEDIUM heat until it is hot. Fry the Pandan chicken pieces in small batches and in a single layer at any one time over LOW to MEDIUM heat. Fry the Pandan chicken pieces for about 8 to 9 mins until the oil is bubbling less. Flip the Pandan chicken pieces after 4 mins of frying. Only flip them once during the entire cooking time. Remove the Pandan fried chicken with tongs while shaking them to let the oil trap in the wrapping to drip out. Transfer the Pandan fried chicken into a strainer. After frying each batch of Pandan chicken, reduce the heat to LOW and remove the sticky bits and pieces from the oil with a ladle. Continue to fry the Pandan chicken until all the chicken pieces are fried.
Transfer the fried Pandan chicken into a serving dish. Enjoy the Pandan fried chicken with sweet chili sauce.

Happy cooking 😉🧡