Chilli jam chicken with nam pla rice

This is crispy, aromatic and salty, and a great way to use up leftover rice pairing it with crisp-but-sticky glossy chicken.

Credit: Donal's Meals in Minutes

• serves

  2

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  45 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

For the chicken

• 3 tsp (15 ml) canola (rapeseed) oil
• 3 tsp (15 ml) fish sauce
• 3 tsp (15 ml) rice wine
• 1 large thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 4 chicken thighs
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp (45 ml) sweet chilli sauce
• 45 g cashew nuts
• handful of sliced spring onion

For the nam pla rice

• 125 g basmati rice, cooked and cooled

• 3 tsp (15 ml) canola (rapeseed) oil
• 1 shallot, finely sliced
• 1 stalk lemongrass, trimmed and finely chopped
• ½ red chilli, finely sliced
• 1-1½ tbsp (20-30 ml) nam pla fish sauce
• a few drops sesame oil
• Juice of 1 lime (or to taste)
• A good handful coriander, roughly chopped

You will need cooked and cooled rice for this dish.  The chicken thighs can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge for several hours before cooking, if desired.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas mark 7 (if cooking straight away, see below). In a large dish, whisk together the oil, fish sauce and rice wine along with the ginger and garlic.
2. Add the chicken thighs to the dish. Toss to coat. At this point, you can cover the dish with cling wrap and place in the fridge to marinate for a few hours, or you cook them straight away.
3. Place the marinated chicken thighs in a large roasting tray, leaving about 2.5cm between the thighs to allow them space to crisp up. Cook for 35 minutes until crispy, then take out of the oven and use a pastry brush to brush each thigh with chilli sauce until they are all coated.
4. Place back in the oven to cook for a further 10 minutes or until cooked all the way through.
5. Meanwhile, place a frying pan over a medium high heat and add the canola oil. Fry the shallots, lemongrass and chilli for 2 minutes or until aromatic. Add in the cooled basmati rice and season with fish sauce, sesame oil and lime juice. Fry for 2-3 minutes until warmed through.
6. Serve the rice in flat bowls with the chilli chicken thighs, garnished with sliced spring onions and cashews.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.