Chicken Gravy (ข้าวหน้าไก่) served over rice is an ancient Thai dish and is now a rather difficult dish to come across. You probably still can find it in an authentic restaurant in Thailand.
I like to screen for this dish on the menu as I find it a very basic but healthy meal for children. This dish is the combination of chicken, a vegetable and some gravy. Two of the most common vegetable used in this is either a carrot or a mushroom. The preparation time for this dish is a bit long, as we need to marinate the chicken for about 2 hours or preferably over night. Marinating is very important to nudge the flavours as well as to make the meat tender and juicy. And if you have a child like mine (who is lazy to chew), tender will do you a big favour.
Apart from the long marinating hours, the cooking time is only about 15minutes. This menu definitely is making it to my list of top 10 easy meals!
Let’s start…
Ingredients:-
• 1 tbsp vegetable cooking oil
• 400 gms chicken breast
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 small carrot
• 1 tbsp corn starch
• ¼ cup water
• ½ cup stock or water
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce (น้ำมันหอย)
• 1 tbsp light soya sauce (ซีอิ๊วขาว)
• 1 tsp dark soya sauce (ซีอิ๊วดำ)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil (น้ำมันงา)
• ½ tsp sugar
• Pinch of salt & black pepper
• Coriander (garnish)
Recipe:-
1. Cut the chicken into small bite size (or mince it for younger children). Remove skin.
2. In a mixing bowl, put in the chicken pieces and add the following seasonings – oyster sauce, light & dark soya sauce, sesame oil, sugar, salt & pepper. Mix all ingredients well.
3. Marinate for a minimum of 2 hours. ( The more time you give for marinating the better)
4. When the chicken is ready, in a pan heat, oil & sauté the garlic till fragrant.
5. Throw in the carrots and pour in a small amount of stock to help the carrots cook for 5-7 minutes or until soft.
6. Add in the marinated chicken.
7. Pour in the remaining stock.
8. In a bowl, dilute the corn starch and ¼ cup of water.
9. Slowly pour the diluted starch into the pan as you continue to stir.
10. Serve immediately over rice.
11. Garnish with coriander.
p.s. For adults, serve with fresh green cayenne pepper (พริกชี้ฟ้าเขียว) on the sides for an authentic touch.
Enjoy!!!!