Fast Recipes

Lime leaf chicken with rice noodles and cucumber

Australian Gourmet Traveller fast recipe for lime leaf chicken with rice noodles and cucumber.

By Emma Knowles
  • 30 mins cooking
  • Serves 4
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Lime leaf chicken with rice noodles and cucumber

Ingredients

  • 8 chicken thighs on the bone, skin on
  • 40 gm light palm sugar, finely chopped
  • 20 gm galangal, coarsely chopped
  • 6 kaffir lime leaves, coarsely torn
  • 3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
  • 2 lemongrass stalks (white part only), coarsely chopped
  • 1 small red chilli, coarsely chopped
  • 60 ml each soy sauce and fish sauce (¼ cup)
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Rice noodles and cucumber
  • 200 gm rice stick noodles
  • 2 Lebanese cucumbers, coarsely chopped
  • ¾ cup (loosely packed) each coriander, Vietnamese mint and mint, plus extra of each to serve
  • 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
  • 40 gm light palm sugar, coarsely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
  • 1 small red chilli, coarsely chopped
  • 2 tbsp each lime juice and fish sauce

Method

Main
  • 1
    Preheat oven to 200C. Slash chicken skin, place in a non-reactive bowl and set aside.
  • 2
    Process palm sugar, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, garlic, lemongrass and chilli in a food processor to a coarse paste, add soy sauce, fish sauce and oil and process to combine. Pour over chicken, toss to coat and set aside to marinate (10 minutes).
  • 3
    For rice noodles and cucumber, place noodles in a bowl, cover with boiling water and set aside until tender (5 minutes). Drain, refresh under cold running water, drain well, combine with cucumber, herbs and spring onion and set aside. Pound palm sugar, garlic and chilli in a mortar and pestle to a fine paste, then stir in lime juice, fish sauce and 2 tbsp hot water. Just before serving, combine with noodles.
  • 4
    Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Drain chicken, place skin-side down in pan, cook until browned (4-5 minutes), turn, cook for 2 minutes, then turn again. Transfer pan to oven and roast until chicken is cooked through (10-12 minutes). Serve hot chicken and rice noodles and cucumber with extra herbs.