The ingredients in the name of this recipe called out to me. I like everything in Chicken in Coconut Milk with Lemongrass! Even the ingredients that weren’t in the title sounded good. Cilantro, garlic, green onions, butter, leafy greens, dried anise, and cinnamon? Yes, please! The author doesn’t list it under a particular type of cuisine, but it has a Thai feel to it. My husband prefers boneless, skinless chicken breasts, so I rarely get to roast an entire chicken. I had no idea what I was missing!
This review was originally posted on June 13, 2017. The photos and text ere updated on September 26, 2024. The rating and review were not changed.
Our piece about Jamie Oliver’s chicken in milk got me thinking about other possibilities for cooking a whole chicken in milk — what could be easier than filling a pot with liquid and spices, turning on the heat, and walking away until what’s left is the most succulent fall-off-the-bone bird?
The Ingredients
I used a 3 3/4 pound roasting chicken and seasoned it with salt and pepper overnight. A large plastic zipper bag was perfect for the task. I removed it 30 minutes before I wanted to start cooking so it could come up to room temperature.
My local grocery store doesn’t stock fresh lemongrass stalks, so I use Gourmet Garden’s lemongrass paste. It’s convenient to store in my freezer since lemongrass isn’t something I use regularly. I always prefer fresh produce if I can find it, but I’ve found this is a good substitute. I used a 3-inch long piece straight from the tube (about the length of my index finger), but I later found out it was a little under the equivalent of 1 stalk.
Tip: Gourmet Garden’s website says just under 4 teaspoons are the equivalent of 1 fresh lemongrass stalk. I find 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) works well.
Lastly, I used baby spinach leaves as the greens for a few reasons. First, they are small enough that I didn’t feel the need to tear them. Second, they don’t have that bitter taste that fully-grown spinach can take on. And finally, I was able to buy the spinach pre-washed and ready to go.
Tip: Fresh spinach can be very sandy, so I prefer to buy pre-washed.
The Process
Although it’s not listed, this recipe was prepped in 10 minutes. The chicken cooked in 80 minutes, and the total time was 1 hour 40 minutes including wilting the greens and carving the chicken.
Prepping the ingredients was simple, and the steps were easy to follow. Everything that had to be done involved basic kitchen skills, and no special equipment was needed.
A 5-quart oval cast-iron pot was perfect for this recipe. It was just big enough for the chicken with a little room for my turkey baster. The close fit kept the chicken from falling onto its side while moving it in and out of the oven.
When I originally made this recipe, I used a slotted spoon to remove the lemon wedges and garlic cloves along with the cinnamon stick and star anise. I know from experience that biting down on whole spices is not a good experience!
I recently found a large mesh spice infuser that’s been a game-changer (shown above). It’s similar to but much larger than the typical tea infuser ball, and it’s long enough to fit a 3-inch cinnamon stick. Now I use it for any recipe with whole spices so I don’t have to hunt them down and risk missing some.
Another handy tool was my turkey forks (not shown). They’re giant forks that make lifting the whole chicken in and out of the pan manageable. The forks were especially helpful when I had to fry it for 30 seconds per side. They made lifting a hot chicken out of the pot without damaging it or burning my hands. I only use them a few times a year, but they are a live-saver!
Once the chicken was fried, I added the spices, greens, and coconut milk. Then it was into the oven until the meat thermometer reached 165°F. The time varies by the chicken’s size, but mine took 80 minutes.
The final step of this recipe, making the sauce, was the easiest. I removed the chicken from the pan and loosely tented it with aluminum foil to keep it warm. Then I placed the pot with the drippings onto the stove, added the chopped spinach, and let it wilt. It only took a few seconds, then I ladled it into a gravy boat for serving. I had made a pot of rice while the chicken roasted, so everything was ready to serve once the sauce was done.
