Indonesian Chicken
- Bess Hawthorne
- Aug 25, 2022
- 2 min read
Updated: Aug 22, 2023
Today's episode features a top expert. You'll want to hear all the tips! Join Bekah Merkle - mother to hungry young adults, cookbook author, and event coordinator for a college. She feeds large amounts of students and faculty as well as family, friends, and guests on a regular basis. Bekah is a gold mine of knowledge in hosting events, big and small. She shares a one-dish meal with all of her changes that have perfected this dish. She shares tips for easy clean-up, making friends with a local butcher, and even how to impress the little ones who come over for dinner with their parents. Stay tuned to the end for her must-have kitchen item. You don't want to miss it!
Indonesian Chicken
Servings: 8-10
Main Dish: 4 pounds chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
Rice
2 pounds fresh green beans, ends snapped
Sauce: 3 cups chicken broth
1 ⅓ cup smooth peanut butter
3 Tablespoons honey
¼ cup soy sauce
4 teaspoons red chile paste
½ cup lemon juice
Toppings: 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup chopped peanuts
Directions:
1. Cook and shred chicken. My favorite way to do this is to generously salt and pepper them and cook at 375° for 30-40 minutes or until done. This can be done in advance and the chicken kept in the fridge until ready to use.
2. Cook rice according to your preferred method and quantities.
3. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the green beans.
4. Mix together all sauce ingredients in a large saucepan. (This can also be done earlier and set aside until shortly before serving.) Cook on medium heat until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
5. Drop the green beans into the pot of boiling water and boil until crisp-tender and bright green, 4-5 minutes
6. Stir the shredded chicken into the peanut sauce until heated through.
7. Pile the rice onto a large platter and pour the chicken in peanut sauce over the top. Top with green beans. Serve with bowls of peanuts and green onions to top.
Made this last night, SO GOOD! Will become part of my family's regular rotation. I used a Sichuan Chilli Paste because that's what looked good at the store. Pretty sure you could use any kind your family likes
This is quickly becoming a family favorite! We use salted cashews on top because that’s what I’ve had on hand. So good! Don‘t skip the green onions and nuts. They both provide much needed flavor and texture.
Thanks for sharing, Bekah!
A lot of towns have a small Asian market. I was able to find Sambal Oelek ground fresh chili paste there. Bekah has used this one as well as the one by Thai Kitchen - roasted red chili paste. Some grocery stores have this in the Asian section. If yours doesn't, I did see it on Amazon.
Great podcast. Great resources. Love it!
From Bekah...
Asian section of the grocery store! If you want Calabrian chili paste (Italian) then in my experience you have to special order, but you can get it on Amazon. For this recipe, you just use regular and don’t bother with Calabrian.