[Recipe] Thai Style Grilled Chicken On Sticks

I'm a big fan of Thai food. I love it when a dish is a little salty, sweet, sourish and spicy, all rolled into one. It tantalizes the taste buds and makes a very satisfactory meal. (psst, if you enjoy looking at pictures of the food that I cook or what we fill our tummies with when the family eats out, do follow me on instagram!)

I bought a Thai cookbook recently, Nong's Thai Kitchen - that features more than 80 easy recipes that I could whip up from home. And this was one of the recipe that caught my eye. Though there are many variations of grilled chicken recipes, I was curious to try this particular one because the marinade called for coconut milk. I never knew coconut milk would be part of any marinade! I learnt from the author that adding coconut milk to this originates from the south of Thailand.

We were all surprised how it actually turned out! It has to be the coconut milk that made the difference. It was pleasantly appetizing and out of the chunky 14 sticks I made for dinner, I managed to savour only 2 sticks while the family wiped out the rest. This is definitely a keeper and absolutely something I could use for future party or picnic food too!

Preparation time : 5 minutes  

Marinade time : at least 4 hours but I recommend at least 6-8 hours for the flavors to absorb better.

Cooking time : 30-40 minutes

Serves : 4-5  

Ingredients :

1. 4 pcs boneless chicken thigh, sliced into chunky pieces (or you can substitute with breast meat, though it may not turn out as juicy)

2. 1/4 cup coconut milk or cream

3. 1.5 tbsp dark soya sauce

4. 1.5 tbsp sugar or palm sugar

5. 1 tbsp fish sauce

6. 1.5 tbsp tumeric powder

7. 1 tsp salt (I opted out of this since fish sauce is salty in itself)

8. 1 tsp ground black pepper

9. 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves/stems

Method :

- combine the ingredients from numbers 2 - 9 in a large bowl and mix well. 

- Marinade the chicken into the mixture for at least 6 hours.

- when ready to cook, set your oven temperature to 180 degrees. Or better if you can grill it over charcoal or gas grill. 

- Skewer the meat on sticks, about 2 pieces if your pieces are sliced chunky like mine. It would yield about 14 sticks.

- Place the chicken on sticks onto a baking tray, lined with baking paper (I prefer this over foil).

- Grill in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the skin turns golden and chicken is cooked.

- Serve and enjoy!

Till the next post, have a wonderful day!