Non-fried Pandan Chicken (Kai Ho Bai Toei)

~ Baked Pandan Chicken (Kai Ho Bai Toei) ~

This Thai origin “Kai Ho Bai Toei” or Pandan Chicken dish appears to be a rather common one in most Thai restaurants. It is boneless chunks of chicken meat wrapped in pandan or screwpine leaves. I recall the first time I had this dish at an authentic Thai restaurant at Kuala Lumpur City Center. It is indeed a memorable dish complete with a Thai sweet chilli dipping sauce.

The challenging part in this dish falls on the wrapping of the chicken chunks in the thin strips of pandan leaves. I wrapped my chicken chunks like I was doing an Origami. If you are an Origami fan, this could be an easy task. Just have the end in mind, a pentagon shape made from folded strip of pandan leave. However challenging, that can be overcome with some practice and trust me it is fun at the same time! Just wrap 1 piece of marinated chicken into 1 strip of pandan leave at a time.

For a fully wrapped piece, form the pandan leave in the shape of a Pentagon, leave an opening to fill a chicken chunk. Insert chicken. Close the opening by inserting the end of a pandan leave into the opposite side of the fold. Trim the excess thicker end of the pandan leaves after it is securedly wrapped. Alternatively, for a fast and easy wraps, simply roll up a pandan leave with a chicken chunk in it and fasten the end of the leave with a sharp-end toothpick.

I baked instead of deep-frying these Pandan Chicken for a healthier version. I used my AMC collection of a rare 24cm 3.5 liter Pot unit with the Navigenio. A mere 15 minutes baked, the chicken chunks cooked through with pandan aroma, tender and juicy with much less fat. A real Thai pandan chicken recipe will have a longer list of ingredients. I have also simplified this recipe for easy preparation as a personal preference. It taste good regardless.

Baked Pandan Chicken Recipe (Yield 12 pieces) :

1. 4 boneless Chicken Drumsticks (remove cartilage and veins for fussy eaters)
2. 12 cleaned Pandan Leaves (with a few extra just in case!)
3. 1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
4. 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder
5. 1 teaspoon Soy Sauce
6. 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
7. A pinch of Sugar & Black Pepper (optional)

AMC Healthy Cooking Method :

1. Cut chicken drumsticks into half (or more pieces for bigger drumsticks) and marinate with seasoning for 1 hour (or up to 4 hours in the chiller for more tasteful bites).
2. Wrap marinated chicken chunks with pandan leaves in your desired way.
3. Preheat AMC 24cm 3.5 liter Pot unit with Navigenio heat level “6” to 50°C or “Meat Window”. Use Audiotherm as an indicator by turning it on, place on lid knob, indicating 50°C or “Meat Window”.
4. When Audiotherm beeps, turn off both Navigenio & Audiotherm. Remove lid and place pot unit on the up-turned lid. Arrange wrapped pandan chicken into the pre-heated pot.
5. Cover pot unit with Navigenio turned upside down. Turn Navigenio on lower heat level “-“ to bake for 10 minutes and on higher heat level “=” to bake for 5 minutes.
6. When Audiotherm beeps, turn off both Navigenio & Audiotherm.
7. Serve warm with pandan leaves on.

Tips : Most if not all deep-frying recipes may be replaced with a fatless cooking method. The AMC Navigenio can be used for baking any of such day-to-day recipes, generally between 10 to 30 minutes, depending on volume. That is a much less energy consumption, contributing to a friendlier environment, as compared to a conventional oven. Needless to say, savings in our precious time and efforts too!