Chicken 'satay' pittas

On my last day of college there was a party.  The sort where you wore an outfit that would be forever regretted, tried to get boy or girl wonder to finally notice you and generally behaved badly. The party was held outside and  there were assorted food stands where one could exchange a token for something edible.  My favorite (to the point that I started bartering drink tokens for food - sad but true) was a curious dish of bean-sprouts, shredded chicken and satay sauce served on a french baguette.  It was fantastically sticky and salty and sweet and crunchy and I just loved it.

It has taken a while but I think this recipe gets pretty close to the original. I have substituted pitta bread as I think it somehow makes it more of a meal rather than a sandwich.  I don’t know why.

1 chicken breast

1 small bag of bean-sprouts

3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter

2 squashed and chopped garlic cloves

1  tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

[water]

2 spring onions (or more if you fancy) sliced lengthways into matchsticks

Some coriander if you have some but it is not essential

Method

Poach the chicken breast  as follows;

Place in a saucepan. Cover with water and  bring to the boil.   Reduce the heat and gently simmer for 5 minutes.  Turn off the heat and leave in the hot water for further 20 minutes.  Remove from the cooking water and shred.  

Fry the garlic until fragrant  then add the beansprouts.  Stir things around in a flamboyant fashion for a a minute or so. You want the beansprouts to retain their crunch whilst losing a bit of their rigid primness.  So keep fishing one out and doing a crunch test. Be careful not to overcook them.  Limp and slimy; an overcooked beansprout is a deeply unsettling thing. Remove from the heat and mix with the still warm shredded chicken.

For the satay sauce - mix the remaining ingredients, except the onions and the coriander, together in a pan over a low heat.  It will thicken alarmingly. Add water until you have a consistency you are happy with. Not exactly challenging stuff.

Stuff the chicken/beansprout mixture into a toasted pitta with the spring onions and ladle on the satay sauce.  Sprinkle with  coriander if you have it.

Good with an icy cold beer.