Chicken in banana leaves

May 20, 2010

This is a recipe my mother brought back from Singapore a few years ago. The original was made with pandan leaves but thanks to my not wearing my glasses to the market, my pandan leaves turned out to be banana leaves. No real problem there, as if you can’t find either then you can just use aluminium foil. But you will usually find frozen pandan leaves at markets specialising in Asian goods.

This is really one of those improvisational dishes. Instead of wrapping the chicken pieces and baking them in the oven, you can flour them then dip them in egg and breadcrumbs – panko for preference – and fry them.

The dipping sauce is one of my absolute favourites as it has a good depth of flavour and really complements the chicken.

Chicken in banana leaves

4 chicken breasts
100ml Chinese rice wine
2 tablespoons sesame oil
salt and pepper
banana leaves

Wash the leaves then plunge into boiling water to soften them.

Cut the chicken breasts into fingers then sprinkle with the wine and sesame oil and allow to marinate for an hour. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cut the banana (or pandan) leaves into squares, place in pieces of chicken, roll and secure with a toothpick. Place in an ovenproof dish, sprinkle with a little oil and bake in a preheated 200C oven for 40 minutes. Serve with dipping sauce.

Dipping sauce

3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons tomato sauce
1 tablespoon chilli sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

Mix well together and serve in a small jug.

Serve with a salad dressed with a little of the dipping sauce.

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