When Mekhala Living sent me the care package, I was over the moon when I saw a bottle of Thai Fragrant Seasoning. I though to myself, “Finally, my prayers answered!”. A walk down the supermarket aisle, and on the spice rack you will see Italian spices, cajun spices, garlic & onion spice mix… etc. But what you will not find is a Thai spice mix. Dried spice mix like this makes life so much easier, no mincing and chopping of spices. Plus, I can bring it to the USA with me and still have Thai spices readily available!
The Thai Fragrant Seasoning is made from the usual Thai herbs and spices such as basil, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, and lemongrass. Mekhala uses only the best organic produce from Thailand. And since I was making a spatchcock chicken with Thai seasoning, I took it a step further by using the Organic Cold Pressed Virgin Coconut Oil to give it extra fragrance. Coconut and thai spices are a match made in heaven!
I love roasting spatchcock chicken, simply because it cooks faster and more evenly. Do not know how to Spatchcock a chicken? Click on this link here to watch the video. I can stare at the crispy skin all day, and when you cut into the chicken, the juice… oh, the juice…Succulent chicken with crispy skin, what’s not to love? My girl kept saying, “Mom, I want the skin, please?”
I served the Thai chicken with Fragrant Coconut Rice, using the Lemongrass Turmeric Paste also included in the care package. That added a lot of flavours to the rich coconut rice! My youngest could not stop going on about how much she love the ‘yellow’ rice. I had 2 portions myself that night. The paste will make an awesome marinate, or simply fried rice. It’s a very good alternative to use if you love the Thai flavours but could not handle the heat. Great for kids to have very little spice tolerance too! Overall, this was an excellent meal! Thank you Mekhala Living!
Also see Crispy Tom Yum Chickpeas using Mekhala’s Tom Yum Paste
Thai Spatchcock Chicken with Fragrant Rice
Ingredients
Thai Spatchcock Chicken
- 1.6 kg whole chicken cleaned
- 1 heaping tbsp of Mekhala's Thai Seasoning or you can use cajun/italian/curry etc
- 1-2 tsp sea salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
Turmeric Ginger Coconut Rice
- 2 tbsp of Mekhala's Turmeric Ginger paste
- 2 cups of rice rinsed
- 200 ml coconut milk
- 2-3 tsp grated ginger
- 1 knotted pandan leaf
- water to fill up to your rice cooker mark for 2 cups rice
To Serve
- Lime wedges
- Chopped cilantro
Instructions
Thai Spatchcock Chicken
- To spatchcock a chicken, lay it on a cutting board with breast down.
- Use a kitchen spears to cut and remove the back bone.
- Flip chicken over, open and lay it as flat as possible on the cutting board.
- Press firmly on breastbone to flatten.
- Transfer to lightly greased baking tray.
- Make a paste by mixing coconut oil, salt, pepper, and thai seasoning.
- Massage the paste all over the top and inside part of the chicken.
- Cling wrap it, and allow to marinate for an hour to 24 hours.
- When ready, bake in middle rack of preheated oven of 200C for 50 minutes or until cooked.
- Check by piercing leg, the juices should run clear.
Turmeric Ginger Coconut Rice
- In your rice cooker, add rice, ginger, and coconut milk.
- Top up enough water till your rice cooker marked 2 cups.
- Stir in turmeric ginger paste.
- Add pandan leaf.
- Press cook.
- Remove pandan leaf and fluff rice before serving.
To Serve
- Squeeze some juice over chicken and garnish with chopped cilantro before serving.
Notes
Disclaimer: This post was made possible by Mekhala Living. However, all opinions are of my own.
1 Comment
Amelia
23 December, 2015 at 6:30 pmHi Sharon, this spatchcock chicken and fragrant rice ……wow…wow….my kind of food. Yours look awesome, I think I’ll lick the plate and bowl clean. hahaha…… Excellent pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Best regards,
Amelia