Suntan Chicken
June 8th, 2009When I was a Uni student I spent five years waitressing in a Singaporean/Malaysian Nyonya restaurant. I was paid little more than the price of a Boost juice an hour, but I can credit the development of my Malaysian taste buds to my illustrious work in this restaurant. Every night, after serving plate after plate of mouthwatering dishes, the staff would sit down and tuck into a mini Malaysian feast. We always had nasi or mee goreng, with some sort of curry. My favourite of them all was Suntan chicken - a delectable coconut curry, bright yellow from turmeric, and just bursting with fresh flavours. It was called Suntan chicken because this is a play on the Malaysian word “santan” - meaning coconut milk or cream. I tried to make Suntan chicken many a time but failed miserably. One day I discovered a recipe called Chicken Coconut Curry in “The Best of Malaysian Cooking” by Mrs Leong Yee Soo, a Nyonya lady with an impressive repertoire in the kitchen. Voila - Suntan chicken! I have modified her recipe here. Warning - it’s addictive!
Ingredients
12 almonds, blanched
3 shallots
5 red chillies
1/2 thumb-sized ginger
5 dried chillies
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Seasoning:
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cube chicken stock
400ml coconut milk
3 chicken breasts, sliced into bite sized pieces
4 kaffir lime leaves, sliced thinly
2 tbsp lime juice
Marinate the chicken with 1 level tbsp salt and 1 tsp sugar
Process the almonds, shallots, garlic, chillies, ginger and turmeric in a food processor
Heat 115ml oil in a pain. Fry the chilli mixture until fragrant, adding 4 tbsp of coconut milk while frying
Put in chicken, seasoning, lime leaves and half of the coconut milk. Stir and cook over moderate heat for 10 minutes.
Pour in remaining coconut milk, lime juice, allow to simmer about 15 minutes.
Serve with steamed jasmine rice.