Masterchef 2014 winner Ping Coombes has a new September special at Chi Kitchen on Oxford Street, ‘Sang Choi Pau’ – spicy minced chicken and lemongrass parcels.
Ping was appointed Consultant Chef for Chi Kitchen, the contemporary pan-Asian restaurant earlier this year and works closely with the team, adding her unique colourful and contemporary style to the menu. Each month Ping will be featuring a dish from her bestselling cookbook’Malaysia: Recipes From a Family Kitchen’ on the menu, drawing inspiration from her mother and the late-night stalls and street markets in her hometown of Ipoh.
For September’s dish Ping has chosen ‘Sang Choi Pau’, delicious spicy minced chicken and lemongrass parcels. Ping’s inspiration for the dish came from a restaurant in London, where she first tried a similar recipe. The owner Mr Peng called it a chicken sandwich, and theCantonese translation is ‘lettuce wrap’. The little gems are crunchy and fresh and contrast with the tasty spicy filling. This dish will be available to order throughout September at Chi Kitchen, Oxford Street.
Serves 4 – 6 people
Ingredients:
- 150g minced chicken
- 150g raw prawns, chopped
- 1 medium size carrot, finely chopped
- 10 green beans finely chopped
- 50g glass noodles
- 2 lemongrass, finely chopped, tender parts only
- 2 birds eye chillies, finely chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon of vegetable oil
- 150g peanuts, coarsely crushed
- 1 iceberg lettuce or 2 babygem lettuces
- Wedges of lime to serve
Seasoning
- 1 ½ tbs oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- A crack of black or white pepper
- ½ tsp of rice wine vinegar
Methods:
- Soak glass noodles with boiling hot water and leave for 5 minutes. Drained and run under cold water. Using a scissors cut them into little pieces.
- Heat oil in the wok, add garlic, chillies and lemongrass until fragrant, add green beans and carrots. Stir fry for 2 minutes until vegetables lose their rawness but maintain the crunch
- Add the chicken and break them into small pieces while mixing with the vegetables. Once the chicken turns opaque and start to cook through, add the prawns. Season with oyster and fish sauce. Cook for another 1 -2 minutes
- Add the noodles and mix well, cook for another minute and make sure chicken and prawns are cooked. Add rice wine vinegar, mix well and turn off the heat. Set aside and cool for 10 minutes.
- Peel the leaves of the lettuce carefully. Using scissors, following the curve of the leave, cut away the green floppy leave. You are then left with a firmer section, which acts like a cup. Spoon the mixture on the lettuce and sprinkle liberally with peanuts. Squeeze a little lime juice on top before eating.
Tips: If the iceberg lettuce is too fiddly, use baby gem lettuces. They make smaller but more parcels. You can serve this with other lettuces too. You can include other toppings like prawn crackers, crispy shallots and chilli oil
The Sang Choi Paul dish is available throughout September at Chi Kitchen, www.chikitchen.co.uk
Recipe from MALAYSIA: Recipes from a Family Kitchen by Ping Coombes, published by Orion, Photography (c) Laura Edwards.