Thai Crispy Chicken


Thai Crispy Chicken

This is my favourite chicken recipe. Forget breast meat, especially skinless breast – you need to consume the skin of the chicken to absorb the maximum protein from the muscle meat. In traditional cultures, the breast was considered the least nutritious meat. The prized cuts were the red-meat cuts: the thighs and legs. Funnily enough, the cheaper cuts of meat are more nutritious and tasty than the lean muscle meat that was promoted as premium cuts due to the low fat and cholesterol scam. 

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup mirin
  • ¼ cup lime juice
  • ¼ cup fish sauce
  • 4 tbsp chopped lemongrass
  • 4–6 cloves of garlic
  • 1 bunch of fresh coriander, with stalks
  • 2 square inches of ginger
  • 3 pairs of fresh kaffir lime leaves
  • 2–4 fresh green chillies, stalks removed
  • 6 free-range chicken legs with thighs, skin on

Method

  1. Place all ingredients except the chicken into a blender and whizz to a smooth green paste.
  2. To prepare the chicken, separate the thighs from the legs, and then lightly slash the skin of each cut to pierce the skin.
  3. Rub your green paste into the skin of the chicken, and leave to marinate for a minimum of one hour, or overnight.
  4. Preheat your oven to 200°C (390°F).
  5. Place the chicken skin side down onto a shallow baking tray and place in the top of your hot oven for 20 minutes.
  6. Remove from the oven and turn the chicken skin side up.
  7. Continue to cook for an additional 15 minutes. Check after 10 to ensure you aren’t burning the skin.
  8. Serve with a light Thai-styled salad. 

NOTE: This dish will also cook well on the BBQ.

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