The marinade for this Thai chicken allows you to get a little creative in the kitchen, and the accompanying slaw is the same!
Use the proportions of the marinade ingredients below according to how much chicken you should make, and think about the final flavor of the dish; since this is both a marinade as well as the sauce the chicken cooks in, you have some room to wiggle a little with amounts and measurements.
Try to remember the balance of acidity (lime juice), salt (soy sauce) and sweetness (honey), with just enough fresh cilantro to open up the flavor and zingy ginger and garlic to add bite. As with all Connected Chef recipes, we encourage you to use all your senses as you cook!
The coconut rice that goes with the Thai marinated chicken and slaw is also easier than it looks, especially when you think about the process of rice cooking. Cooking the rice in coconut milk gives it a creamy flavor that’s hard to beat, and it rounds out the entire dish nicely.
Toss the slaw together using whatever crispy, fresh vegetables you have on hand. Each of the different textures of the different vegetables will work well together, especially when you tie them together with a garlicky vinegar dressing.
This Thai marinated chicken and sides is one of my favorite recipes to teach in my classes, since it covers so many different aspects of the kitchen and requires you to use each of your senses throughout the entire process. It’s a great recipe to get kids cooking along with you!
- Chicken Breast or Pork Chops sliced or cubed
- low sodium soy sauce
- Cilantro
- Onion
- garlic
- Ginger
- Honey
- olive oil
- sesame oil optional
- 2 cups Rice
- 1 can Coconut milk
- 3 cups water 2:1 Water to rice ratio
- Salt & pepper
- garlic
- Ginger
- Onion
- Bell peppers deseeded and sliced into strips
- Carrots peeled and sliced into strips
- Cucumber peeled and deseeded
- Mango peeled and sliced
- Mint stems removed and roughly chopped
- Cilantro stems removed and roughly chopped
- lime juice
- Combine all marinade ingredients in a bowl and whisk: Start with soy sauce as the base, and then add each ingredient one at a time, tasting as you go.
- Add chicken to the marinade and set aside for at least 20-30 minutes while you prepare the rest of the meal.
- When chicken is ready to be cooked, sear in batches with marinade & season with salt & pepper
- Fine chop garlic, onion, ginger & sauté in pan with a heavy amount of oil.
- Add rice & toast (make sure there is enough oil to coat the rice)
- Once rice is toasted brown, add coconut milk & water
- Season heavily with salt & some pepper
- Once boiling, stir & bring down heat
- Stir occasionally until cooked through.
- **Be sure to be tasting rice as it cooks and adjusting seasoning. You can always add a bit of water if you need more liquid throughout the cooking process.
- Julienne all veggies (cut into thin strips).
- Pick herbs from stem & tear into slaw
- Dress with some lime juice, salt & pepper to taste.
