Papaya Chicken With Vanilla-Scented Coconut Milk

Submitted by BecR2400

"From "Vanilla" by Patricia Rain."

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 3⁄4 cups coconut milk
• 1⁄2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tahitian vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 1 firm but ripe papaya (or use frozen papaya chunks)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 chicken breasts, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste
• rice, for serving

directions

1. In saucepan, combine coconut milk, sugar and vanilla bean, and bring mixture almost to a boil. Remove from stove and allow to steep.
2. Peel papaya, remove seeds, and cut into thin strips.
3. In a large skillet, heat olive oil; add chicken and cook until nearly done. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add papaya slices, salt and pepper, and cook another 5 minutes.
4. While chicken is cooking, remove vanilla bean from coconut milk and scrape seeds into liquid. Transfer chicken-papaya mixture to a platter. Add coconut milk to skillet and cook over medium-high heat until milk boils and sauce reduces slightly. Pour over chicken and serve over rice.

Reviews

[Amanda in Aberdeen]

This recipe was quite easy to make but for the amount of work that went into peeling and deseeding the papaya left me just a tiny bit disappointed at the end, I was unprepared by the somewhat bitter taste of the papaya (maybe I got a bad one?) The coconut milke was lovely and was gorgeous with the rice, I did substitute the onion with a small amount of spring onion as my husband detests onions. We served it over pilau rice...I will certainly make this recipe again but will probably use mango instead of papaya and add a wee bit of coconut and a dash of curry powder. Thanks for sharing this!