{"id":1607,"date":"2010-08-02T19:30:50","date_gmt":"2010-08-02T11:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/?p=1607"},"modified":"2010-10-30T15:33:01","modified_gmt":"2010-10-30T07:33:01","slug":"chicken-laksa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/chicken-laksa\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicken laksa"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Going back to work after 12 months leave (I know, lucky me) has meant a few changes in our house.\u00a0 Little Miss (our gorgeous puppy) has lost her automatic door opener (me) throughout the day, G has to help with the housework a little bit more and I have to think of meals that are not only\u00a0tasty but quick\u00a0and easy to prepare after work.\u00a0 While I was on leave I could ponder over dinner for most of the day before deciding what we would eat, now it is definitely a\u00a0plan ahead decision process which can be challenging.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I am fortunate that we both love Asian flavours because a lot of the dishes that come from Asian cuisine are quick cooking and this recipe is no exception.\u00a0 We both\u00a0enjoy Laksa, so I decided to make a chicken version for one of our mid-week meals.\u00a0 I wanted to be able use ingredients that I had in the fridge or cupboard so designed my recipe around what I could find.\u00a0 After getting home from work, walking and feeding the dog I got stuck in and within an hour dinner was on the table.\u00a0 Oh how I love quick and easy mid-week meals.<\/p>\n

healthy chicken laksa\u2013 (recipe by Fiona at Food 4 Thought)
\nserves 2 hungry people<\/span><\/p>\n

Ingredients
\n<\/span>250g (8ozs) skinless chicken breast
\nvegetable oil, for shallow frying
\n2 teaspoons laksa paste
\n1 teaspoon garlic paste or 2 cloves, crushed
\n1 teaspoon\u00a0ginger paste or 2.5cm (1 inch) piece\u00a0of fresh ginger, grated
\n250ml\u00a0(1 cup) chicken stock
\n70g (2.5ozs) carrots, peeled
\n70g (2.5ozs) red capsicum
\n70g (2.5ozs)\u00a0beans
\n100g (3.5ozs) baby sweet corn
\n70g (2.5ozs)\u00a0sliced water chestnuts
\n200ml (3\/4 cup) coconut milk
\n4 x spring onions (green shallots)
\n100g (3.5ozs) rice vermicelli noodles
\n1 handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
\n100g (3.5ozs) bean sprouts
\nto serve,\u00a0lime juice and fried shallots
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\nPreparation
\n<\/span>Place a large, deep frying pan or a large, heavy-based\u00a0saucepan over medium heat.\u00a0 Cut chicken breast into bit size pieces.\u00a0\u00a0Add 1\u00a0tablespoon of oil to pan and add chicken pieces.\u00a0 Cook for 2 – 3 minutes each side or until chicken is lightly golden but not cooked through.\u00a0 Remove from pan and set aside.\u00a0 Chop carrots, red capsicum, beans and corn into\u00a02.5cm (1 inch) batons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Add laksa paste, garlic and ginger to pan and heat for 1 – 2 minutes, stirring so that it does not stick to the base.\u00a0 Add 60ml (1\/4 cup) chicken stock, stir and simmer for a couple of minutes, until sauce thickens.\u00a0 Add chicken back to pan, stir to coat\u00a0and cook for 2 – 3 minutes before adding the remaining stock.\u00a0 Bring to boil, add all vegetables except bean sprouts, stir and reduce heat slightly.\u00a0 Simmer for 6 – 10 minutes until vegetables are\u00a0cooked as desired.\u00a0 In the meantime, place noodles into a large bowl and cover with boiling water.\u00a0 Using a fork, separate the noodles and set aside.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once vegetables are cooked, add coconut milk and shallots and turn heat off.\u00a0 Taste for seasoning and adjust as desired.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To serve, place noodles in the base of bowls,\u00a0add beans sprouts, top with chicken and vegetables then pour over\u00a0broth.\u00a0 Sprinkle with chopped coriander, spritz with lime juice and top with fried shallots.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

My tips\/alterations:<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0*The brand of laksa paste that I use\u00a0is Hogan’s Chilli Sauces because they are Australian made.\u00a0\u00a0I use 1 teaspoon each of Thai Laksa\u00a0Paste and Laksa Paste because they\u00a0have their own individual flavours and I like the blend of the two.\u00a0 If you like\u00a0a more intense flavour, add more paste.\u00a0\u00a0*I cook my vegetables so that they are still a little crunchy as\u00a0I like the textural differences throughout the dish.\u00a0 *Substitute the vegetables with anything that you like and use seafood in place or chicken if preferred.\u00a0 * I like to use the fine vermicelli noodles but you can use any that you like and cool them as directed.\u00a0 *Fried shallots can be purchased from Asian supermarkets and some supermarkets.\u00a0\u00a0*If you would like to make this a vegetarian dish, substitute the chicken with tofu.<\/p>\n

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ease: 8\/10.\u00a0 <\/strong>This is not difficult and it is best to get all the ingredients prepared before beginning.\u00a0\u00a0
\nprep time:<\/strong>\u00a030mins.\u00a0 <\/strong>Rolling the mixture into balls takes most of this.
\ncooking time: 20mins.<\/strong>
\ntotal: 50mins.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

taste: 8\/10.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0This is one of those dishes that will make you feel healthy when you eat it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We loved the blend of flavours and textures that made us\u00a0want to have another mouthful, then another and another until disappointingly we realised that we had devoured it all.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

would I make it again:\u00a0\u00a0Definitely.<\/strong>\u00a0 This was satisfying, delicious and healthy all in one bowl.<\/p>\n

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Going back to work after 12 months leave (I know, lucky me) has meant a few changes in our house. Little Miss (our gorgeous puppy) has lost her automatic door opener (me) throughout the day, G has to help with the housework a little bit more and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[46,88,57,28,50,35,45],"tags":[117,16,127,101,122,107,116],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1607"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1607"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1627,"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1607\/revisions\/1627"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}