Kai kaeng (chicken casserole)

1 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
4 cups Chicken; filleted and cut into bite sized pieces -Marinade---
1 tablespoon Garlic; cruchsed
1 tablespoon Fresh root ginger; grated
1 tablespoon Shallots; thinly sliced
1 tablespoon Peanut oil
1 pinch Turmeric; and salt & pepper to taste -Sauce---
1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
1 teaspoon Coriander seeds
1 teaspoon Cardamom pods
1 tablespoon Fermented shrimp paste
1 cup Shallots; finely sliced (or use red onions)
1 tablespoon Prik ki nu (green birdseye chilis); thinly sliced
1 Tablespoom of prik ki nu daeng (red; thinly sliced birdseye chilis)
1 cup Coconut milk

Directions

Method

Mix the ingredients of the marinade, and marinade the chicken in a cool place for about 3 hours.

Toast the cumin, coriander, and cardamom in a dry heavy skillet or wok, until aromatic, and grind to a fine powder.

Blend the ingredients of the sauce together.

Transfer the chicken and marinade to a wok or sautee pan and stir fry until the chicken just starts to change colour.

Transfer to a slow-crock cooker, add the sauce, and then simmer, covered on low heat for one to one and a half hours (until the chicken is cooked, tender, and the pieces fall apart at the pressure of a chopstick).

Serve with steamed white rice.

Kai Yang Isan (Barbequed Chicken) Kai yang is literally "barbequed (or grilled) chicken", and is peasant food. As such there are as many recipes as there are cooks in Thailand.

There are however two main styles: kai yang khrung thep ("Bangkok Style") which is slightly more elaborate, and the basic kai yang isan ("North East style"), which this is. Originally the chicken was cut open along the belly, and opened out, then knocked flat with a couple of judicious blows from the back of a cleaver, marinated, pegged in a split stick to hold it and then grilled over a charcoal brazier.

Faced with the needs of restaurant cooking, my wife adapted the classic recipe for an industrial rotisserie by adding a stuffing. You can do this in a broiler oven or rotisserie. If you want a barbeque version, take two flattened chickens, place them face to face with the stuffing between them, and hold them in a pair of barbeque tongues, or one of those wire frame things, and barbeque the sandwich.

NOTES: This is a "Thai-ised" version of a recipe from Delia Smith's cooking course, called Chicken with Whole Spice, which is a mild pastiche on Indian food.

This version is set up for a slow-crock cooker, but it could be prepared as a conventional casserole by simmering it on the stove top for about 30 minutes or in an oven at about 180 C for 30 minutes or so. In either case check occasionally for "doneness" as I have lost my notes on oven cooking of this dish (not owning an oven it is of little interest to us...).

Posted to recipelu-digest Volume 01 Number 658 by "Diane Geary." <diane@...> on Jan 31, 1998

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