Coconut Chicken and Bean Salad with Jammy Shallots
A warm chicken salad is a very lovely thing. Chicken fat is one of the most gorgeous naturally occurring flavours in the world, I reckon. Cooking chicken thighs skin-side down in a frying pan means releasing all that flavour, which can then be sponged up by whatever you cook in the juices. In this case, you cook some jammy shallots in the fat, then toss them with that crispy chicken and some tender green beans to make a very fragrant salad situation. You could even double up and save some for your lunch the next day.
Method
Based on 2 servings, adjust as needed.
Step 1
Debone your chicken thighs by carefully slicing on either side of the bones, and scraping the flesh down it to release them. Season all over with salt.
Step 2
Place a frying pan over a medium heat and add the chicken thighs to the pan while it is still cool, placing them skin-side down. Pop a square of baking parchment over the chicken, then top with a heavy pan. This will ensure you get really crispy skin. Fry for 10 minutes.
Step 3
Meanwhile, peel and quarter your shallots lengthways, keeping the stems intact and removing any tough bits.
Step 4
Remove the heavy pan and parchment from the chicken. Flip each thigh over and fry for another 5 minutes on the other side. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside to cool. There should be lots of delicious chicken fat left in the pan.
Step 5
Add your shallots to the chicken pan, cut-side down. Fry for 4 minutes to get a little char on them, then flip and fry for another 2 minutes on the other side.
Step 6
Add 100ml water (if cooking for 2), along with the fish sauce, red wine vinegar and a little over half of the sugar. Put the piece of baking parchment you used earlier on top, and reduce the heat to low. Let it all bubble down for 5 minutes to soften the shallots. They should get nice and sticky. Remove the paper and spoon any leftover juices over the shallots, then remove the pan from the heat.
Step 7
Heat half of the olive oil in a separate frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the green beans, and fry for about 5 minutes until they are tender and slightly charred.
Step 8
Meanwhile, make your dressing. Peel and finely chop your garlic, and half of your red chillies, then scrape these into a small saucepan. Pour in your coconut milk, then place over a medium heat for about 5 minutes to reduce by half.
Step 9
Remove from the heat and let it cool. Add the lime zest and juice, along with the remaining sugar. Give it a mix, and season to taste with salt.
Step 10
Pick your** coriander leaves** and slice your chicken. Finely slice the remaining red chilli.
Step 11
Tip the green beans, coriander leaves and shallots into a mixing bowl, then pour over your dressing. Toss together to combine.
Step 12
Divide your salad between your plates, then top with the crispy chicken. Serve with the sliced red chilli on top.
- Ingredients
- Based on 2 servings
-
2 tbsp Fish Sauce 1x Blue Dragon Fish Sauce 150ml -
2.5 tsp Caster Sugar 1x Sainsbury's White Caster Sugar 500g -
2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar 1x Sainsbury's Wine Vinegar, Red Wine 500ml -
1 Garlic Clove, peeled and chopped 1x Sainsbury's Garlic -
15g Coriander, picked 1x Sainsbury's Fresh Packed Bunch Coriander 30g -
2 Red Chillies 1x Sainsbury's Red Chillies 65g -
150ml Full Fat Coconut Milk 1x Sainsbury's Coconut Milk 400ml -
1 Lime, zest and juice 1x Sainsbury's Limes -
200g Green Beans, topped and tailed 1x Sainsbury's Extra Fine Beans 200g -
2 tbsp Olive Oil 1x Sainsbury's Olive Oil 1L -
Maldon Salt, to taste 1x Maldon Sea Salt Flakes 250g -
3 Banana Shallots, peeled an cut into quarters, lengthways 3x Sainsbury's Echalion Shallots 400g -
4 Chicken Thighs, skin on 1x Sainsbury's British Fresh Chicken Skin on Thighs 1kg