I was kindly gifted some gorgeous Thai curry pastes from the lovely team at Mae Jum. These pastes are stoneground, so they have a lovely texture and don't feel overly processed, which is great.
As the weather was really hot, I decided to experiment, and came up with the idea of a Red Thai chicken salad. I marinated chicken breast chunks in Red Thai curry paste, Greek yoghurt and lime juice and then sauteed it until it was cooked through and charred.
The salad included thinly sliced carrot, red cabbage, spring onions and cucumber as well as delicious roasted peanuts, fresh coriander and mint. My husband declared it a hit and gave it 11/10!
The chicken would also be perfect for a summer BBQ, with the marinated meat threaded onto skewers and
Serves 3-4
For the chicken
2 large chicken breasts
2 tablespoons of Thai red curry paste (I used Mae Jum)
2 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt
1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice
Salt (optional)
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
For the salad
Crisp lettuce, sliced (Iceberg, Cos or Romaine work well)
1 carrot, julienned
1/4 small red cabbage, cut into thin strips
1/4 - 1/2 cucumber, cut into strips or dice
Bunch of spring onions, topped, tailed and sliced
100g roasted unsalted peanuts
Handful of fresh coriander, chopped
Handful of fresh mint,
cut into thin strips
For the dressing (still in testing)
Rapeseed oil
Lime
Fish sauce
- In a bowl, mix together the red Thai curry paste, Greek yoghurt and lime juice, until well combined.
- Cut the chicken breasts into 2-3cm chunks and stir into the marinade mix.
- Scatter the lettuce over the plates or salad bowls and top with the remaining ingredients
- Heat the oil in a large sauté or frying pan over a medium heat.
- Once the oil is really hot, add ⅓ or ½ the chicken to the pan (depending on the size of the pan) and stir, keeping the chicken pieces moving until they are charred and cooked through (reaching an internal temperature of 74)
- Remove the chicken from the pan and repeat for the rest of the chicken, (adding a little more oil if needed) then set aside.
- Scatter the chicken over the salad.
- Drizzle over the dressing and serve.
