Spiced Chicken with Coconut-Caramel Sauce and Citrus Salad
These are very hot little firecrackers from the orient. They can be used to add spice to almost any oriental dish. They dry very easily and can be stored and used this way for a long time.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup plus 2 tsp. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1-1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
cayenne pepper
4 skin-on boneless chicken breast halves
2 Tbsp. water
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 Tbsp. Asian fish sauce
1 Thai green chile, stemmed and minced
salt
1 grapefruit—peeled with a knife, sectioned and diced
1 lime—peeled with a knife, sectioned and diced
1 cup diced fresh pineapple
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
2 Tbsp. thinly sliced cilantro
Fleur de sel*, for garnish
Instructions:
In a small bowl, mix 2 tsp. of the sugar with the coriander, cumin, turmeric, black pepper and 1/2 tsp. of cayenne. Rub the spices over the chicken, then cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, in a saucepan, mix the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar with the water and bring to a boil. Simmer the mixture until an amber caramel forms, about 10 minutes. Off the heat, pour in the coconut milk and stir until the caramel dissolves. Add the fish sauce and chile, then let it stand for 5 minutes. Strain the sauce and season with salt.
In a medium bowl, gently toss the grapefruit, lime and pineapple with a pinch each of salt and cayenne.
Light a grill. Rub the chicken with oil and season the breast halves with salt. Grill the chicken over moderate heat, turning once, until the skin is charred and the chicken is white throughout, 12 minutes. Transfer the grilled chicken to plates with the citrus salad and sauce. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the cilantro and fleur de sel. Serve immediately.
Fleur de sel* is a high quality sea salt.
Recipe by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, from the May 2007 issue of Food and Wine Magazine.