Khmer Chicken from Cambodia

Khmer Chicken with Bok Choi (serves 2, or 1 hungry man) Chop these thinly and keep separately in piles: 2 cloves garlic 1 shallot (Onion if you can’t be bothered to buy shallots, but only a very small amount (1/5 th of an onion) 3 small lemon grass stalks but exclude the outer skin first – chop these as finely as you can! 2 pieces of fresh turmeric (hard to get it fresh in the UK?) 1 and a half kaffir lime leaves – roll them up first then chop thinly Galangal 1 inch square, or ginger if no galangal
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Mix and smash these in a pestle and mortar (or cheat with a blender) But they must go into it in the following order.. lemon grass, kaffir, galangal/ginger : smash a LOT to a pulp THEN the rest except shallots; smash smash smash, and the shallots must go in last, more smashing.
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Now you're ready to spread this mixture onto the chicken - a large organic piece of deboned thigh preferably. On to the chicken, which you have slathered in this yummy bright yellow spicy mixture, add 2 tablespoons of coconut milk, half a teaspoon of chicken stock. Here you are supposed to add 3 tablespoons of oyster sauce, but I say either add 1 only or none at all - I am suspicious that this is the Cambodians over-doing it a bit, making it far too salty. Over this add a couple of tablespoons of crushed peanuts - you should seriously think about keeping a jar of these in your larder - crushed to the point where some are powdery and none are left whole. (beware of using salted, but roasted should be ok) Now, heat some oil in a pan - by the way, the healthiest oil to cook with is coconut oil - if not, then olive oil, but you do not need any other oil in your kitchen - and make sure the pan has a lid or at least something you can improvise as a lid. When the oil's hot, fry the chicky with all of its yellow mixture  but don't toss it around too much, you want it to go a bit crispy so leave it in place, turning it over once or twice. When it's gone much browner, possibly 10 minutes, it's ready!
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You can serve with steamed rice and bok choi. The bok choi can be literally steamed with a bit of water, lemon juice and oil in the bottom of a pan or wok. Remember the lid!! If you want to be more elaborate, you can toss over it a bit of crushed garlic, palm sugar, fish sauce, a ladle of vegetable stock and some black pepper. The Cambodians like to add cornflower mixed with water at this point too but I thing this makes it look gloopy, you want it fresh and green. Don't oversteam, you don't want it to lose colour.
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