Coconut Milk Braised Chicken and Yams
Description
Delicious! Half Baked Harvest is one of my new favorite food blogs and this is another tasty dish created by Tieghan Gerard. It’s quick enough to produce for dinner on a weeknight if you have the ingredients on hand and in the link she includes instructions for using your pressure cooker or slow cooker. I had the time so I used my stove top and it still didn’t take that long. Similar to one of my previous posts, any variation on a recipe with both coconut milk and chicken will be well loved in our house!
Ingredients
~2 lbs. chicken thighs (or breasts), cut into similar-sized pieces
1 T. turmeric AND 2 t. ground ginger
3 T. sesame oil AND 2 t. kosher salt
2 medium shallots, chopped (or 1 small red onion)
2 cloves of garlic, minced AND 1 inch peeled fresh ginger, minced
1/4 t. + cayenne – to taste (I used 1/4 teaspoon)
1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro + more for serving
1 medium yam, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 c.+ good chicken broth
1 can (400 mL) coconut milk AND 2 T. fish sauce
2 c. + fresh spinach AND 2 T. freshly squeezed lime juice
rice or naan bread and extra cilantro for serving
Instructions
In a large glass bowl, stir together the chicken, turmeric, ground ginger, sesame oil and salt and then leave it to sit for a few minutes while you prep everything else – I actually mixed this up in the morning and left it covered in the fridge until dinner time.
When it’s time to get cooking, heat up a bit of oil over medium-high heat in a large pot or non-stick skillet and sear the chicken for a couple of minutes on each side until browned. Add the shallots, garlic, ginger, cayenne and cilantro, cook and stir for another couple of minutes and then toss in the yam.
Pour in the broth, coconut milk and fish sauce, bring it all to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and leave it to simmer gently for about a half hour until the chicken is cooked through. If the sauce is too thick, you can add more broth, but the spinach will also add in some extra moisture.
Stir in the spinach (it will take a lot more than 2 cups if you have it!) and lime juice and taste for seasonings. Spoon over rice into big bowls and serve as you wish!
