Garlic Chicken is a Thai street dish that has become popular at Thai restaurants across North America. But you don't need to go out to enjoy this dish - it's quick and easy to make at home using your oven (you can also simmer it in a wok like they do in Thailand). The result is moist, juicy chicken with a dark and flavorful sauce that includes mushrooms on the side, all of it topped off with crispy fried garlic. Served with plain rice, this Thai chicken dish is both a delight to make and to serve. ENJOY!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Yield: SERVES 3-4
Ingredients:
- 3/4 to 1 lb. (.83 kg.) chicken legs or thighs, skin left on
- 6-8 shiitake or porcini mushrooms, sliced
- 3-4 fat cloves garlic
- lime or lemon wedges + handful fresh coriander to garnish (optional)
- 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
- MARINADE:
- 7-8 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red chili, minced, OR 1 tsp. dried crushed chili
- 2 Tbsp. oyster sauce (also called 'oyster-flavored' sauce)
- 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
- SAUCE:
- 1 can (14 oz./400 ml) coconut milk
- 1 Tbsp. Golden Mountain Sauce, OR subsitute fish sauce
- 1 tsp. brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp. lime juice
- 3-4 whole cloves garlic
- optional: 1-2 whole red chilies (fresh or dried)
Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While oven is heating, combine marinade ingredients together in a medium-sized mixing bowl, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add chicken pieces and turn to coat. Set aside.
- In another bowl, combine the 'Sauce' ingredients: coconut milk, Golden Mountain sauce, brown sugar, and lime juice. Leave aside the whole garlic and chilies for now.
- Transfer chicken (together with marinade) to a baking dish (preferably wide and flat). Pour the sauce you just made in and around the chicken pieces. Add the whole garlic cloves and chilies plus the sliced mushrooms, gently stirring them all into the sauce. (Note: the pan make look full now, but the mushrooms will cook down into the sauce and reduce to half their size.)
- Set in the oven to bake (uncovered) at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Partway through, spoon sauce over the chicken pieces.
- When chicken is done, turn off heat but leave in oven while you perform one last step. Cut the 'fat garlic cloves' into thin whole slices (as shown in picture). Heat up 3 Tbsp. oil in a small frying pan over medium-high heat, and fry the slices until light golden-brown. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon and let drain a minute or two on paper towel.
- Before serving, taste-test the sauce. It should taste a little on the salty side, with the spice (garlic and chili) coming through. If too salty, a squeeze of fresh lime or lemon juice. Serve with rice and lime or lemon wedges. Top chicken pieces with some sauce from the pan, some of the mushrooms, and coriander to garnish (optional). Finally, top with the crispy fried garlic, and ENJOY!
Make-ahead Tip: The chicken can be left to marinate in your refrigerator for up to 24 hours ahead of cooking.
