Recipe: Vietnamese chicken curry with sweet potatoes
Are you familiar with Vietnamese cuisine? I had eaten pho before, and I sometimes get spring rolls at the market, but that’s about it. The book An An by Mai Nguyen describes Mai’s life and all the dishes she encountered along the way. Forty years ago, she came to the Netherlands from the Philippines as an 11-year-old.
One of the favorites from the book is this curry. I didn’t know this, but curry is also eaten in southern Vietnam. It’s a little like Thai curry because it contains coconut milk and—if you like that—a handful of cilantro on top. This curry with sweet potato, chicken and lemongrass isn’t hot, but it has a delicious kick thanks to the ginger and chili flakes. Mai serves the curry with baguette and noodles; I ate it with basmati rice and Indian naan. Not authentic at all, but very tasty!
How to make Vietnamese chicken curry with sweet potatoes
- In a food chopper or mortar, grind the ginger, garlic and lemongrass into a paste.
- Place the chicken pieces in a bowl with the spice paste, turmeric, masala powder, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, black pepper and chili flakes. Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
- After an hour, heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a sauté pan over high heat and fry the sweet potatoes for 5 minutes until golden brown; they don’t need to be cooked through. Remove the pan from the heat, scoop out the sweet potatoes and leave the oil in the pan.
- Return the sauté pan to the heat. Stir-fry the onion, curry leaves and bruised lemongrass for 3 minutes. Turn the heat up as high as possible and add the marinated chicken. Toss and fry for another 3 minutes. Add the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Add the fried sweet potato and the remaining fish sauce, and bring to a boil again. Lower the heat and simmer the dish for another 20 minutes.
- The chicken will usually release a lot of liquid. If there isn’t enough liquid in the pan, you can add another 100 ml of water.
- Taste to check whether the dish is properly seasoned: not too salty, not too sweet. Garnish with cilantro and spring onion.
Title: An An
Author: Mai Nguyen
Price: €25,-
Publisher: Luitingh-Sijthoff
