Mushroom Chicken Chop with Coconut Cream

 

Whenever I selected western meals from a restaurant's menu. My go-to choice is always chicken chop. I don't eat beef, pork chops are too dry to eat, and lamb chops turned up rough and chewy simply because they were overcooked. One of the reasons I love Chicken Chop is because the meat is always so tender and flavorful.

There was an interesting question that popped out from a 10-year-old kid. Does chicken chop a western dish? It may come as surprise to some, chicken chop originally comes from Malaysia. In the early days, Hainanese immigrants in Malaya invented the chicken chop in support of the British colonial taste, so Malaysian refer chicken chop as a western meal.

Although I like to eat chicken chops, there are only two flavors when I eat out every time, which are black pepper sauce or mushrooms sauce. Extremely worn out with the sauce. Today, I am going to cook this chicken chop with a different sauce – mushroom chicken chop with coconut milk.

Western food will always use heavy cream and lemon with the recipe whereas the cream will help to thicken the sauce and the lemon will balance the flavour of the cream sauce. I am going to cook my chicken chop in an Asian -inspired flavour, to use coconut cream instead of heavy cream; calamansi juice instead of lemon juice.

You're going to love this mushrooms chicken chop with coconut cream , I promise. Because calamansi juice and coconut cream were used, the sauce has a tart and creamy flavour.  In contrast to heavy cream, which I frequently forget to buy or do not keep in the fridge, coconut cream always remains in my cupboard, which is something I appreciate about using it for this recipe.  Instead of using heavy cream, the sauce has a nice coconut edge to the flavour which is wonderful. I am using calamansi lime because it is widely used as a souring agent in Malaysian cooking to balance the rich flavour of the dish. Even just a quick squeeze of the juice  over the chicken chop  is bound to pack a flavorful punch!

Instead of the king oyster mushroom I used in my recipe, you can use shitake, button, or any other variety. For the side dish, I'm using some cherry tomatoes, steamed sweet corn and blanched broccoli. You can use coleslaw salad or your choice green salad, along with mashed potatoes or French fries.

 

INGREDIENTS

7 boneless, skin on chicken thigh

1 tbsp chicken stock

1 tsp salt

½ tbsp ground black pepper

2 tbsp cooking oil

50g butter

½ onion, sliced

2 tbsp minced garlic

1 pack medium size king oyster mushrooms,

250ml chicken broth

120ml coconut cream

2 tbsp of calamansi juice

seasoning

1 tsp salt

1 tsp chicken stock

METHOD

1. Pounding the chicken chop with a knife or meat mallet to break the fibers in the chicken, to tenderize chicken before cooking.  

2. Combine the chicken stock with the salt. Sprinkle the mixture and the black pepper all over the chicken thighs.

3. Cut the King oyster mushrooms into cube size or chunks.

4. Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Add the chicken thighs with skin side down. Don’t remove the chicken around while it cooks, as it will disrupt the sear and may cause the chicken to stick to the pan.  Let the chicken sear for about 5 minutes or until golden brown. Turn the chicken over and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. At this stage, the chicken is mostly cooked through and will finish cooking in the sauce later. Transfer to a plate.

5. With the remaining oil from searing the chicken thighs in the pan, melt the butter in the same pan, add in the sliced onion and minced garlic, sauté until fragrant. Add the mushrooms to the pan and cook until they begin to turn brown and soft.

6. Add the chicken broth to the pan and bring it to a boil, season with salt, chicken stock and  taste. Pour in the coconut cream, stir it through. Add the chicken thighs back into the creamy sauce. Simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Turn off the heat and squeeze the calamansi juice over the creamy sauce; the heat of the sauce will help infuse the calamansi juice. ENJOY!!