Coconut Milk Poached Chicken

There's Rice (and Chicken) at Home: Episode 2

Hello! Welcome back to There’s Rice (and Chicken) at Home — a series where I share easy, flavour-packed chicken and rice recipes inspired by some of my favourite cuisines. This week, it’s my Coconut Milk Poached Chicken.

This recipe is the chicken version of my viral Coconut Milk Poached Fish, which is one of my most recreated recipes ever. As a content creator, you sometimes have a sense of what’s going to land, but other times, you just don’t. I’m very glad this one did because it’s SO good — deeply fragrant, layered with aromatics and so much more complex in flavour than you’d expect from something so straightforward. 

As great as it is, this chicken version is even better. For one, I’ve added fresh lime leaves, which bring a beautifully bright, citrusy flavour. The other difference is in the method. In the fish version, you sweat down your aromatics, then add coconut milk and let everything infuse before quickly poaching the fish at the end. In this one, the chicken poaches with the aromatics in the coconut milk, releasing its juices into the broth as it cooks, making it even more flavourful.

I really hope you’ll give this one a go, and if you do, please let me know what you think!

Coconut Milk Poached Chicken 

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 500g chicken thigh fillets

• 2 lemongrass stalks, tough outer layer removed

• 4 fresh makrut lime leaves

• 4 garlic cloves

• 1 large echalion shallot (banana shallot)

• 1 red chilli

• 20g fresh ginger, peeled

• vegetable or coconut oil

• 2 x 400g tins good-quality coconut milk

• 2 tbsp fish sauce (swap for vegan fish sauce or soy sauce if allergic)

• 1 chicken stock pot or cube

To serve:

• small handful fresh coriander, finely chopped

• drizzle of chilli oil (optional)

• lime wedges

• cooked rice 

Method

1. Season the chicken thigh fillets with salt and set aside.

2. Roughly chop the lemongrass, lime leaves, garlic, shallot, chilli and ginger, then transfer to a food processor and blitz until finely chopped.

3. Heat a tablespoon or two of vegetable or coconut oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the blitzed aromatics and cook, stirring frequently, for 7 to 10 minutes, or until softened.

4. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce and stock. Stir to combine, increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer.

5. Add the chicken, return everything to a gentle simmer, then cover, reduce the heat to low/medium-low and cook for 20 to 25 minutes.

6. Transfer the chicken to a shallow bowl and ladle the sauce over the top. Scatter over the fresh coriander and finish with a drizzle of chilli oil, if using.

7. I recommend serving this with rice (it soaks up all that fragrant coconut broth), a side of steamed veg and a few lime wedges for squeezing over.

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I hope you give this a go! I’ll be back next week with the next There’s Rice (and Chicken) at Home recipe — see you then!

Big love and happy cooking,

Zena x