Ingredients
| MARINATED CHICKEN | |
| 1-2 red chillies (or use 1-2 tablespoons sriracha sauce) | |
| 2 cloves garlic | |
| 1 tablespoon fish sauce | |
| 3 tablespoons tamarind paste | |
| 2 teaspoons soy sauce | |
| 2 teaspoons palm or brown sugar | |
| 6 chicken Marylands | |
| 2 punnets cherry tomatoes | |
| 3 lemongrass stalks | |
| 4-6 makrut lime leaves | |
| 1 cup chicken stock | |
| NOODLE SALAD | |
| 150g rice noodles | |
| sesame oil | |
| ½ cucumber | |
| 4-5 radishes | |
| 1 green apple | |
| 2 spring onions | |
| ¾ cup reserved chicken/tomato liquid (reserve the rest for the base of a soup) | |
| zest and juice of 1 lime | |
| 1 tablespoon fish sauce | |
| chopped chilli or sriracha sauce | |
| 1½ cups fresh herbs such as Vietnamese mint, Thai basil, coriander |
Tray-bake dishes are great for quick, weeknight meals but they are even better if they have been marinated ahead of time to allow the flavours to mingle. This one draws on the big and bold flavours of southeast Asia: hot, salty, sour and sweet. I used skin-on leg pieces, but you can use a whole chicken cut into pieces, drums, thighs or even chicken nibbles if you prefer (just adjust the cooking time accordingly). Here the chicken and tomato juices do double duty as the basis for the rice-noodle salad dressing.
Instructions
| 1. | MARINATED CHICKEN |
| 2. | Depending on how much chilli heat you want in the dish, you might want to remove the chilli seeds before putting into a blender (or smashing in a mortar) with the garlic, fish sauce, tamarind paste, soy sauce and sugar. |
| 3. | Put into a large bowl or in a sealable plastic bag with the chicken pieces. Marinate overnight (or a minimum or 8 hours). |
| 4. | Heat the oven 200°C. |
| 5. | Put the chicken pieces (and any marinade) into a roasting dish, skin-side up, along with the cherry tomatoes. |
| 6. | Roughly bruise the lemongrass and makrut lime leaves and slip into the pan along with the chicken stock. |
| 7. | Roast for 50 minutes or until golden (if the chicken starts to brown too quickly, cover loosely with a sheet of baking paper). |
| 8. | Cool slightly before serving. Reserve the cooking liquid for the salad. |
| 9. | NOODLE SALAD |
| 10. | While the chicken is cooking, prepare the salad. |
| 11. | Pour boiling water over the rice noodles and leave to soak for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until just tender to bite. |
| 12. | Rinse with cold water then drain and drizzle with some sesame oil to stop the noodles from sticking together. |
| 13. | Slice the cucumber, radishes and green apple into matchsticks (a mandolin is good here). |
| 14. | Thinly slice the spring onions. Mix the chicken liquid with the lime zest and juice, fish sauce and chilli or sriracha sauce to taste. |
| 15. | Adjust the flavourings adding more of these ingredients as required to get a balance you like. |
| 16. | Toss together the noodles and vegetables then mix through the dressing, add the herbs and top with the tomatoes and chicken. |
Recipes & food styling Ginny Grant / Photography Aaron McLean / Styling Jessica Hemmings
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