Baked Coconut Chicken
Baked Coconut Chicken
Good tasting chicken, subtle flavor of coconut, next time I make these I will make some shallow cuts on the chicken.
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Sheet with Rack
Ingredients
For Marinating
- 5 chicken quarters
- ⅔ cup coconut milk
- 1½ teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
For Baking
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- extra light olive oil, as needed
Instructions
To Marinate the Chicken
- Separate the quarters into legs and thighs (there is a line of fat to follow). Trim off and discard any excess fat. (I used 4 quarters)
- In a mixing bowl, add the rest of the marinade ingredients, whisk together.
- Place the chicken pieces in a sturdy zip lock bag, then pour in the coconut mixture. Squeeze out as much air as you can and seal the bag. Squish the chicken around to get everything coated with the marinade. Place the bag on a plate and place in the fridge overnight.
To Bake the Chicken
- Remove chicken from the marinade and drain, discard the marinade.
- In a mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and whisk together. Pour a little bit of extra light olive oil in a small bowl. Line a baking sheet with foil, lightly oil a baking rack and place the rack on the backing sheet.
- Coat the chicken pieces in the flour mixture and place on the rack. Leave the chicken to rest for an hour.
- About 15 minutes before you are going to bake, preheat your oven to 200° C (390° F). Brush or spray the chicken with olive oil and place the baking sheet with the rack and chicken in the oven and bake for 25 minutes, turn the chicken pieces over and bake for another 25 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. To check if cooked through, sacrifice a thigh and cut into one to verify it is cooked through.
- Serve with sides of your choice.
Notes
Low cost. I used 4 chicken quarters on 3 Feb 2019, that was 1 1/2 kilos (quarters are larger than the already separated thighs and legs), for 49 Baht/kilo, for a total cost of 73 Baht. For 5 servings, this is about 46 cents per serving.
Variants: 1. Use all thighs or all legs. 2. Make cuts in the meat to allow the marinade to soak into the meat.
Lee, you mentioned next time you would make shallow cuts in the chicken. What’s the thought behind the shallow cuts? More flavor absorption?
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
Correct, the cuts will allow more coconut flavor into the meat. Although the recipe is very good as written, it is just a subtle flavor, I think the cuts will impart more of the coconut flavor 🙂
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I made these again on 7 Aug 2019, in the states, used legs, tiny compared to chicken legs in Thailand, and did make two cuts on each leg, however, this did not result in more coconut flavor in the meat, which I think was just due to the legs being small and the cuts not that deep. I will repeat this with thighs next time.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I made this on 4 Feb 2019, and as bad luck would have it, my oven failed (counter top oven), it was not getting to the temp needed. So we let the chicken cool, stored in the fridge overnight, and fried on 5 Feb. Perfect, just a subtle taste of the coconut. My next test will be to make shallow cuts on the chicken pieces prior to marinating.