Thai chicken salad with chilli jam

The chilli jam in the dressing for this salad is inspired from David Thompson's Thai Food. It's sweet, spicy, sour and savoury. I like to drizzle it on some fresh herbs, cabbage and add some grilled meat or prawns.

Credit: Adam Liaw

• serves

  2

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Mid

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Ingredients

Chilli jam

• 4 red Asian shallots (or 2 small red onions), sliced
• 4 large dried red chillies
• 2 small dried red chillies, seeded
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• ⅓ cup dried prawns
• 125 ml (½ cup) vegetable oil for frying, plus a dash for paste
• 2 tsp tamarind puree
• 2 tsp grated palm sugar
• 2 tsp fish sauce

Thai dressing

• 1 - 2 tsp tamarind puree, to taste
• 1 - 2 tsp gula melaka or dark palm sugar/brown sugar, to taste
• 1 - 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1 - 2 limes, juiced

Salad, to serve

• ¼ white cabbage, finely sliced
• ½ cup coriander leaves
• ½ cup mint leaves
• ½ cup Thai basil leaves
• 1 small piece ginger, finely sliced into matchsticks
• 1 red Asian shallot, finely sliced
• 200 g grilled chicken thighs, sliced
• 1 tbsp coconut milk, optional

You will need to begin this recipe 1 day ahead

Standing time: overnight

Instructions

1. The day before serving, for the chilli jam, using a heavy-based dry frying pan, toast the shallots, dried chillies, garlic and dried prawns one after the other until lightly charred - this will add a rich depth to the jam.
2. In a food processor, blitz the dried chillies and half the dried prawns until they're quite small, before adding the rest of the ingredients and a little bit of the oil to process into a paste. Add the remaining dried prawns and pulse a few times.
3. Heat the oil for frying in a wide, heavy-based frying pan over low–medium heat. Fry the paste until dark and fragrant, then stir in the tamarind puree, palm sugar and fish sauce until the palm sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat, place in a sterilised jar, seal and leave to cool, then refrigerate. You can use the jam straight away but it's best to leave it at least overnight to allow the flavours to meld.
4. For the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of the chilli jam. Taste and adjust as needed.
5. To assemble the salad, place the sliced cabbage in a bowl and mix through herbs, ginger and shallot. Add the grilled chicken, coconut milk and the dressing and toss gently.

 

Photography by Adam Liaw.

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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.

Stream free On Demand

Stolen Goods (Recipes Stolen from Someone Else)

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G

episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • 

cooking • 

25m

G