Coconut and Lime Poached Chicken

Fragrant and fresh this is an absolutely beautiful light meal, midweek for family or on the weekend for friends.  Moist chicken poached with fragrant asian herbs, zesty lime and light coconut milk served on a bed of steamed jasmine rice and topped with crunchy aromatics makes this a definite food for friends!

Serves 4

4 x 200gm chicken breast fillets, trimmed and lightly scored diagonally
5cm piece of ginger, sliced
5cm piece of galangal (optional)*, sliced
1 clove of garlic, sliced
2 green onions, ends trimmed and halved
roots of a bunch of coriander
zest of 2 limes
juice of 2 limes
1/2 a cup of chicken stock
2 red chillies, halved lengthways (seeds removed if you don't like it too spicy)
2 kaffir lime leaves
400gm tin of light coconut milk
1 tbs of fish sauce
1 tbs of brown sugar

Steamed jasmine rice to serve

For the topping:

2 spring onions, thinly sliced diagonally
2 kaffir lime leaves, hard centre removed and finely shredded
1 cup of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 red chilli, finely sliced diagonally

In a large frypan combine ginger, galangal, garlic, chilli, zest and juice of limes, stock, coconut milk,  green onions, lime leaves, fish sauce and brown sugar and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and pop in the chicken breasts.  Place a tight fitting lid on and simmer very slowly for 20 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked.  Remove the chicken, cover with foil and set aside to rest.  Strain the liquid into a jug and discard all the herbs etc.  Return to the pan and bring to a rapid boil for approximately 5 minutes or until reduced and slightly thickened.

Combine all topping ingredients in a bowl.  To serve, slice the chicken breasts diagonally into 2cm thick slices.  Arrange over a generous helping of steamed rice.  Spoon over the sauce and top with the fragrant herbs.......

*Galangal looks very much like ginger and can be found in most large supermarkets or asian grocery stores