Here’s a quick and easy dish with a lovely combination of fragrant, bold and bright Asian flavors.

You’ll need to marinate the chicken for at least 30 mins and the rest takes no more than another twenty, including time for the rice to cook. Adding the marinade ingredients to the coconut milk makes a wonderful sauce.

Increase or cut back on the red chili at will  – and the shredded green (spring) onion garnish isn’t essential; I  happen to like them and had some in my fridge.

CHICKEN with COCONUT, LEMONGRASS, CHILI & LIME

(Serves 2 -3)

Ingredients for the marinade:

One stalk of fresh lemongrass, split lengthways into 4

The juice of 2 limes and the zest of one

3 garlic cloves, crushed

4 small shallots, minced finely

1 tablespoon of Thai fish sauce (Nam Pla)

1 level teaspoon of sugar

2 small red chilies, seeded and chopped

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil (I use avocado or grape seed oil – both great for high temp stir-frying)

1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil

1lb (450g) of chicken breast meat, cut into 1 and 1/2 inch (3-4 cm) chunks

Then:

Vegetable oil for stir-frying

1 cup (250ml) of coconut milk

A good handful of chopped cilantro (coriander), saving some for the finish along with a couple of green (spring) onions, finely shredded lengthways

Action:

Combine all the marinade ingredients together and pour over the chicken. Allow everything to marinate for a minimum of 30 minutes and up to a couple of hours.

Get the rice started according to instructions.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and save the marinade but discard the lemongrass.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok/saute pan and stir fry the chicken pieces over a high heat until they’re golden, about 3-4 minutes.

Pour the marinade (minus the lemongrass) over the chicken along with the coconut milk and cilantro/coriander – stir everything together. Lower the heat to medium and cook for another 2 minutes.

Serve over fluffy mounds of white rice and scatter with extra chopped cilantro/coriander leaf and some shredded green onion.

Note: if you love Thai flavors but fancy eating as finger food, try Nigel Slater’s ‘Lemongrass Chicken’ – I posted that recipe here a while back.