This is such a simple and delicious dish, it makes a yummy light dinner just as is or with rice and extra steamed or stir fried vegetables on the side. It’s also really easy to prepare and you’re using a cheaper cut of chicken – yay for money saving!

I used free range boned marylands for this recipe that I can get at my local market. Thighs would also work just fine! You can adjust the marinade to suit your taste in terms of adding more or less chilli and garlic depending on how into those things you are. The chicken gets lovely and sticky as you cook it thanks to the honey and wine in the marinade and it means that it’s juicy and saucy so you don’t actually need to serve it with any sauce.

I love chicken thighs, I realise they’re higher in fat that chicken breast but that means that they’re ideal for when you want to cook at a higher heat and get some caramelisation happening because they won’t dry out. The fresh crunchy lettuce soaks up all the flavour from the chicken and also provides excellent contrast in texture.

Buying good quality free range and antibiotic free chicken is worth the extra bucks, it tastes better and you can feel better about eating it. Plus when you’re buying chicken thighs it’s cheaper than breast anyway so you can afford to splash out on improved quality. This means that that yummy lemongrass scented marinade gets to shine.

If it’s BBQ weather in your part of the world you could totally throw this on the barbeque and then serve it in a fluffy roll. Yum!

Serves 4

Ingredients

Marinade

1 Tbs Chinese cooking wine

1 Tbs soy

1 tsp honey

1 Tbs mirin

1 stick lemongrass

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

1/4 tsp sesame oil

1 Tbs finely chopped coriander stem and root

400g chicken thighs or boneless marylands

3 cups shredded iceberg lettuce

1/4 cup coriander leaves

1/4 cup spring onion

1 birdseye chilli finely sliced

1 lime, cut into wedges

Directions

Combine all the dressing ingredients in a bowl and add the chicken thighs. Toss to coat and set aside to marinade for 20 minutes or up to overnight.

Heat a non stick pan on medium high heat. Add chicken and grill for 7 minutes each side. Take of the heat and rest for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile toss together the lettuce and all but 1 Tbs each of the spring onion and coriander. Spread on the base of your serving dish.

Slice chicken finely and serve on top of the lettuce, letting the juices drip through and coat the salad. Sprinkle over the reserved herbs, the finely sliced chilli and serve with lime wedges on the side.

Serve with rice or as part of a banquet.

HH. x