How do you make a dull bit of chicken jump off the plate and zap your taste buds? Try this – and your family will be screaming for more!
Ingredients
- For the chicken:
- 2.5cm (1in) ginger, peeled and grated
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
- 1 tsp hot chilli sauce
- 3 tbsp coriander leaves
- 1 tbsp mint leaves
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil, plus 1 extra for cooking
- 4 chicken breasts, skin on
- For the mash:
- 675g (1½ lb) home-made or shop-bought mash
- 150ml (5fl oz) coconut cream
- 2 hot red chillies, finely choppned
- 1 tbsp Thai green curry paste
- 2 tsp fish sauce (nam pla)
- 2 tsp clear honey
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 2 handfuls of baby spinach leaves, washed
Method
For the chicken: first make a coriander paste by blending together all the ingredients except the chickn in a mini food processor. Carefully lift the skin off the chicken breast without separating it completely from the flesh, creating a pocket. Spoon some of the corinader paste under the skin, rub it in well and reshape the skin. Leave to marinate for at least 10 minutes (maximum overnight).
Heat the remaining one tablespoon of sunflower oil in a heavy-based frying pan, then cook the chicken breasts, skin side down, over a medium heat for 10 minutes. Turn them over and cook on the flesh side for 5 minutes or until cooked through.
While the chicken is cooking, combine all the ingredients for the mash except the spinach, season to taste and heat (in a non-stick frying pan, if possible) over a low flame or in the microwave until piping hot. Fold in the spinach and continue to cook until it has wilted.
Place a pile of mash in the centre of four plates, then top with the spicy chicken breast.
Top tip for making Antony Worrall Thompson’s chicken with coconut mash
"I'm a bit of a leg man, so I often make this dish with chicken thighs - again, pushing the coriander paste under the skin."
