Are you still browning chicken? When I was first learning to cook, browning meat prior to braising it, is what all of my favorite cookbooks taught. It’s also what I learned from the chef, Thien Ngo, I worked for at Fork. Before Thien braised anything — chicken, brisket, short ribs — he always began by browning the meat first. But browning, as far as I can tell, serves only one good purpose: to remove excess fat, thereby ensuring the sauce, in the end, won’t taste unpleasantly fatty. For a braise, browning is not a step that produces crispy skin. And while it creates an appealing color and, in turn, flavor, these two outcomes can be achieved without actually going through the tedious process of browning. How? In the oven. Two years ago I made Diana Henry’s Moroccan Chicken and Rice with Harissa and Dates, a recipe that calls for essentially chucking everything into a pan at once and throwing it in the oven. There’s no preliminary browning, and it works: the end product being crispy skin and fall-off-the-bone meat. I’ve stopped browning chicken ever since, and I’ve been revisiting my favorite braises in the meantime, giving them the chuck-in-the-oven treatment. This one-pan chicken with sherry vinegar sauce is a favorite, and here’s another one: one-pan Thai chicken curry with spinach. It uses all of the same flavorings as Thien’s Thai chicken curry, but the method is different, simpler.
One-Pan Thai Chicken Curry How-To
After an hour in the oven, the chicken skins are browned, and the meat has absorbed all the flavors of the sauce. The sauce is plentiful, making rice or some sort of flatbread essential.
A final note regarding not browning:
As noted above, browning meat does remove excess fat. If, prior to cooking, you notice your chicken thighs or drumsticks are particularly fatty, trim the excess fat/overhanging skin. This step usually is enough to ensure the final sauce doesn’t taste too fatty, but if, in the end, you still find the sauce tasting too rich, you can skim excess fat, which will pool to the surface.
5 Favorite No-Browning Chicken Recipes
PS: Curried Lentils with Kale & Coconut Milk PPS: Chopped Thai Satay Salad with Peanut-Ginger Dressing PPS: Easy Thai Chicken Satay with Coconut Rice
4.9 from 144 reviews I’ve converted this to a one-pan number, and in place of the carrots, parsnips, and potatoes, I stir in a heap of spinach at the end. A few notes:
If your chicken thighs or drumsticks are particularly fatty, trim the excess fat. This will prevent your sauce from being too fatty in the end. Thai red curry paste. Maesri is the brand I buy at the Asian market. You can find it online, too. I use half a tin for this recipe (which is about 3 tablespoons), which makes it quite spicy but not outrageous. If you are sensitive to heat, start with a tablespoon and adjust the sauce with more at the end.
