Spicy coconut roast chicken thighs with green bean omelette
- Prepare
- over 2 hours
- Cook
- 30 mins to 1 hour
- Serve
- Serves 4
This feast of spicy chicken, salty, buttery cabbage, a fluffy omelette and sticky rice is perfect for a cosy meal where you want to impress.
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 250g/9oz coconut cream
- 2 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
- ½ tsp ground coriander
- 2 bay leaves
- 2kg/4lb 8oz chicken thighs (about 12 thighs), skin on and bone in
- 2 tbsp just-boiled water
- small handful fresh coriander, leaves picked
- freshly steamed white rice, to serve
For the omelette
- 4 free-range eggs
- 1 tbsp good-quality oyster sauce
- pinch ground white pepper
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 120g/4¼oz fine green beans, trimmed and finely sliced into rounds
- small handful fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 red chilli, sliced
For the cabbage
- 3 tbsp oil
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 30g/1oz fresh coriander, finely chopped
- 1 hispi or sweetheart cabbage, cut into eighths, core removed and then cut into 1cm/½in slices
- 2 tbsp salted butter
- 1 tsp fish sauce
Method
To make the chicken, place the coconut cream, curry paste, sugar, ground coriander and bay leaves in a saucepan. Bring to the boil then simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes, stirring frequently to dissolve the curry paste and sugar. Remove the bay leaves and leave the sauce to cool.
Place the chicken in a container large enough to hold all of the thighs in one layer, skin-side up. Pour half of the cooled sauce over the chicken and marinate uncovered in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Reserve the rest of the sauce.
Take the chicken out of the fridge at least 1 hour before cooking so it comes to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 230C/210C Fan/Gas 8.
Arrange the chicken, skin-side up, on a wire rack on top of a large roasting tin lined with kitchen foil. Baste the chicken skin with some of the reserved sauce and roast for 35 minutes.
Remove the chicken from the oven. Transfer the chicken to a serving plate. (Check that the chicken is cooked through – the juices should run clear with no trace of pink when the thickest part is pierced with a skewer.) Remove the wire rack from the roasting tin.
Stir the just-boiled water into the remaining sauce and pour the mixture into the roasting tin. Put the tin on top of the largest hob on the oven and turn the heat to high for 2 minutes. Using a spatula, deglaze the roasting tin to create a sauce. Carefully drain the sauce from the foil back into the tin and dispose of the foil. Pour the sauce over the chicken and sprinkle over the coriander leaves. Keep warm.
To make the omelette, beat the eggs with the oyster sauce and white pepper in a jug.
Heat the oil in a large lidded frying pan over a medium heat, then stir-fry the garlic and beans for 2 minutes.
Slowly pour the egg mixture into the pan, starting from the outside in. Swirl the pan to spread the egg evenly around it. Leave the omelette for around 15 seconds until the bottom starts to set a little.
Gently push one edge of the omelette towards the centre and tilt the pan slightly to let the egg liquid on top flow underneath to fill the empty space in the pan. Repeat around the edge of the whole omelette. Continue to cook for 2 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium–low, cover the pan and cook for a final 2 minutes.
Garnish with the coriander and the chilli. Keep warm.
To make the cabbage, heat the oil in a large non-stick wok over a high heat. Stir-fry the garlic and coriander for 30 seconds. Add the cabbage and stir-fry for 6 minutes, only stirring every 15 seconds or so to achieve some nice charring on the leaves.
Make a well in the centre of the cabbage mixture. Add the butter and fish sauce to the well and cook for 30 seconds, then stir to combine with the cabbage.
To serve, place the coconut chicken thighs, omelette, cabbage and steamed white rice on plates and serve immediately.
Recipe tips
I like to marinate the chicken in a container that is large enough to hold the chicken skin-side up in one layer, so that I can leave it in the fridge uncovered to air while it is marinating. This dries out the skin as much as possible for better crisping up during cooking.
