Pandan chicken is a common Thai street food.
Those who frequent Thai restaurants have undoubtedly become familiar with pandan leaves. These fragrant leaves, sometimes descried as "Asian vanilla," have a sweet, grassy flavor that complements rice and delicate meats. Southeast Asian cuisine frequently uses the spear-shaped leaves as a wrapper for food, to impart flavor and a fresh green color. Marinated pieces of chicken, wrapped in pandan leaves and fried or grilled, is one of the classic Thai street foods, easily reproduced in the average American kitchen.
Instructions
1. Cut the chicken into bite-sized cubes, approximately 2 in. on each side. Marinate the pieces for 2 to 3 hours, as directed in your marinade recipe.
2. Select a pandan leaf and pass it over the burner on your stove a few times, to heat it and make it limber. Hold the leaf between the thumb and forefinger of your non-dominant hand, with 1/3 of the leaf above your hand and 2/3 below it, and the shiny side facing away from you.
3. Bring the lower portion of the leaf up, and fold it around behind the vertical portion of the leaf, to make a rough cone at the point where the leaf is folded. Pinch the folded portion where it crosses behind the upright portion, and hold it in place with your thumb and forefinger.
4. Place a piece of the marinated chicken inside the roughly conical pocket formed in the corner of the leaf. Take the longer portion of the leaf from behind the upright portion, and fold it to cover the top of the chicken and enclose it.
5. Wrap the long end of the leaf around the point of the cone, and back up the other side. Slide the end under the loop that enclosed the chicken, and pull it through to make a tight package.
6. Trim away the long ends of the leaf with a pair of scissors or a knife, and set aside. Repeat, until you have used up all the chicken or all the pandan leaves. Fry or deep-fry the chicken rolls in hot oil. Serve hot, to be unwrapped and eaten with the fingers.
Tags: pandan leaves, portion leaf, behind upright, behind upright portion, Thai street