Wok-Fried Vietnamese Turmeric Chicken Recipe

Wok-Fried Vietnamese Turmeric Chicken Recipe

500 g chicken breast fillet, sliced

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 onion, roughly sliced

2 large lemongrass stems (white bottom inner tender part only), finely sliced

1 long red chili, sliced on the diagonal

¼ cup peanut oil

2 cups coconut milk

2 bunches asparagus, ends trimmed, sliced on the diagonal

1½ tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

5 teaspoons castor sugar

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

Handful Thai basil leaves*

⅓ cup roughly chopped roasted peanuts (optional)

Method:

Place the chicken, garlic, onion, lemongrass and chili in a bowl and mix well.  Place peanut oil in a hot wok over high heat.  Add chicken mixture in batches and stir-fry 1-2 minutes or until cooked.  Return all of the chicken mixture to wok, pour in milk, add asparagus and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat to a medium and simmer 1 minute.  Add sauces, sugar, turmeric and a pinch of salt.  Stir-fry for 2 minutes or until asparagus is tender.  Fill a wok or heavy-based saucepan one-third full of oil and heat to 180 degrees Celsius, or until a cube of bread dropped into the oil browns in 15 seconds.  Add basil and fry briefly until crisp - be very careful as oil may spit.  Drain on crumpled paper towel.  To serve, divide the chicken between four plates, sprinkle with the fried basil and peanuts, if desired.

* Thai basil leaves are from selected greengrocers and Asian supermarkets.  Before you deep-fry the leaves, make sure they are bone dry.  Even the tiniest amount of water on the leaves will make the oil splatter and hiss.