I’m back from my holidays + sick days! Not like anyone has noticed :'( My husband and I went for a short holiday to Amsterdam with a close friend who then surprised us with another close friend! . We ate like gluttons, shopped and walked around a lot. The only sucky part was that except for one day, it was raining and windy the rest of the time we were there. It was a lovely place and I would definitely want to go back there again.

I also went to London for an all-nighter with the 2 close friends (husband didn’t join because he said we were crazy for pulling an all-nighter). It was awesome, just that I caught the cold and the weather in London did not help it either. Like Amsterdam, it was rainy and windy but it was still awesome. It was also refreshing to hear people speaking English all over!

So, after 2-3 weeks of not posting anything, I present to you pandan chicken. It’s originally a Thai dish but it’s also known in Malaysia. It’s really fragrant and tasty due to the pandan leaf, especially when you start frying it and the whole kitchen smells of it. Lovely!

In this recipe, I use cut chicken thighs as I find it tastier and the meat is tender. You can use chicken breast too, but I would advice to tenderize it prior to marinating it. If you do not want to wrap the pandan leaf as shown, just roll it up and secure it with a toothpick. By rolling it up, the chicken may not be as juicy as the wrapped ones.

I have also included my very first video on how to wrap the pandan chicken. Thanks to my husband for taking the video. To get that view, he had to rest his hands on my shoulders (sort of like a human go-pro, just that it’s not attached to a head). Lucky I’m short and he is tall!

Ingredients

500 grams (about 2 pieces) Chicken Thigh or Breast, cut into 2-inch pieces

12-15 pieces (1 leaf per chicken piece) Pandan Leaf

For Frying Peanut Oil

Marinade

1 ½ Tablespoons Oyster Sauce

1 ½ Tablespoons Light Soy Sauce

2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil

1 Tablespoon Sugar

3 roots Coriander Root

3 cloves Garlic

1-inch Ginger, roughly chopped

3 dashes White Pepper Powder

Directions:

Marinade

In a blender or small food processor, add cleaned coriander roots, garlic, chopped ginger and blend into a paste. Add a little oil to help the blending process. Mix the paste with oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and white pepper powder. Set aside.

Chicken

If using chicken thighs : Debone chicken and remove skin. Cut into 2-inch pieces. If using chicken breast: Tenderize chicken with a meat tenderizer tool. Cut into 2-inch pieces. Marinate chicken with marinade for 3-4 hours. Clean pandan leaves in cold water. Wrap chicken in leaves. Add peanut oil into a deep pan/deep fryer/deep pot and heat it up to medium heat. Fry pandan chicken for about 10-12 minutes. Place fried pandan chicken on a paper towel to soak up excess oil. Serve.

Tips:

Remove pandan leaf before eating.

Conversion Table

Serve with rice and choice of vegetables.

Enjoy!