McGregor - Easy Chicken Recipes

Although hot and sour tom yum soup is popular in Thai restaurants, this soup to me is far more delicious and very simple to make. Use this recipe as a base and adjust the amounts of ingredients until you get the flavours just right for you. The first time I tried this I was in Bangkok with Tracey and Jack. We were about to enter the night market and decided to eat outside. What an awesome experience this was so delicious that I had to order one to go.

150g 5mm-thick rice noodles

2 cups chicken stock or water

4 stalks lemongrass (white part only), smashed to a paste using a mortar and pestle

2 kaffir lime leaves

1 star anise

4 cloves garlic, smashed to a paste

3 chicken breasts

3 red chillies, chopped into small dice (reserve a little for final garnish)

15 green beans, sliced in half on an angle

20 mange-tout peas, finely sliced, or 11 cups finely sliced cabbage

2 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal

2 tablespoons fish sauce

400ml can coconut milk

teaspoon salt

coriander leaves to garnish

lime wedges for serving

Place the noodles in a bowl, cover with boiling water and soak until soft (510 minutes). Drain and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, bring the stock or water to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then add the lemongrass, lime leaves, star anise and garlic. Add the chicken and poach until almost cooked. Remove the chicken from the stock, shred and set aside.

Add the chilli, beans, mange-tout or cabbage, spring onions and fish sauce to the stock. Gently simmer for around 3 minutes, then add the coconut milk and shredded chicken, and continue to simmer until the vegetables have softened. Add the salt, check the seasoning, adding more chilli and fish sauce (or more salt) if needed. Remove the lime leaves and star anise.

To serve, divide the noodles among 4 bowls and place some vegetables then chicken on top of each serving. Pour over the coconut milk soup and garnish with coriander and chilli. Serve lime wedges for squeezing alongside.

Serves 4

This recipe is inspired by a traditional Penang curry (eaten widely in Thailand), but is a lot easier to prepare and it cooks in minutes. I can remember my first Penang curry, sitting near the beach on Koh Phangan nearly 12 years ago. That one dish has stayed with me for years not just the memory of its delicious taste, but of the place and the people I ate it with.

INGREDIENTS

700g skinned and boned chicken breast, sliced into 2cm-thick strips

1 teaspoon ground star anise

3 cloves garlic, crushed

3 teaspoons ground turmeric

4cm knob ginger, peeled and grated

2 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons chilli oil

12 tablespoons fish sauce to taste

1 tablespoon peanut oil

400ml can coconut milk

2 star anise

2 red chillies, finely sliced on an angle (discard the seeds if you like a less fiery taste)

METHOD

Place the chicken in a large bowl. Combine the star anise, garlic, turmeric, ginger, lime leaves, lime juice, soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of the chilli oil and 1 tablespoon of the fish sauce. Taste and add more fish sauce if necessary. Pour the mixture over the chicken and, using your hands, thoroughly mix together. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or longer if you can (up to 2 hours).

Heat the peanut oil and remaining chilli oil in a large wok or frying pan over a high heat, add the chicken and brown for around 2 minutes on each side. When nicely browned, add the coconut milk, stir well and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down, and simmer until the chicken is cooked and coconut milk reduced (around 15 minutes). Taste and add more fish sauce to season.

Garnish with the star anise and chillies and serve with sticky rice.

Serves 4

This dish is just as delicious with squid, prawns, beef or pork, but for me chicken is superb. I must have eaten this dish hundreds of times and every time I make it I just cant resist extra garlic or cracked black or white pepper over the top. This is styled more on southern Thailand cuisine. It is great on its own, with some rice or fresh cucumber and beans, or it can be done with green peppercorns and gravy.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons peanut oil

812 cloves garlic, finely sliced

2 chicken breasts, thinly sliced

2 teaspoons finely ground white or black pepper

1 tablespoons fish sauce

1 teaspoon grated palm sugar (optional)

small handful coriander leaves to garnish

METHOD

Heat the oil in a frying pan or wok over a medium heat, add 3 finely sliced garlic cloves and stir-fry until golden and crisp. Remove from the pan and reserve.