Pan-fried Chicken w/ Tomato Coconut Milk Sauce

As mentioned before, lately I've had the urge to try out new dishes or just tweak the dishes I know to make them a little more different (inspired by Top Chef!). This dish is one of them.



Chicken cut into serving size pieces. I'm using 6 legs that I cut into 3 pieces each. Season with salt and pepper.


Prep: 1 minced shallot, 4 cloves crushed garlic, and 1/2 a yellow onion cut into small pieces.


Also prep 1 1/2 to 2 cups of fresh diced tomatoes


Heat up a non-stick pan with enough oil to just coat the bottom, as the chicken cook - it will render more fat needed to fry. Add the chicken skin-side down. Fry on medium heat until the skin is crisp and golden brown (about 5-10 minutes depending on how high the heat is set to and how large/thick the chicken pieces are, try not to brown it too fast to give the meat time to cook)


Once the skin side is golden brown, turn them over and cook the other side for about 5 minutes.


Just when the chicken is about cooked, move them onto a plate - set aside. The chicken will cook a little longer in the sauce. Discard the rendered fat from the pan, rinse and wipe down the same pan (or you could use another).


Set the pan to medium heat, add a tablespoon of oil, brown the shallots and garlic. Then the yellow onions.


Add a tablespoon of sambal chili paste and some soy sauce.


Add the tomatoes and the following ingredients to taste: black pepper, salt, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and hot pepper flakes.


Add 1 cup of water, stir and let simmer for 2 minutes.


Add the chicken - Skin-side up to the sauce. Let simmer for about 5 minutes for the chicken to absorb the flavors.


Add about 3 tablespoons of coconut milk. I incorporated the the coconut milk in by shaking the pan and moving the chicken around with some chopsticks.


Cook for about another 2 minutes.


Top with scallions, cilantro or basil. I wanted to try basil with this, I'm sure it would have made a good difference in the dish - but no basil was on hand. Can't wait until mom get her herb and vegetable garden going this summer! =)


Serve by itself or with white rice.