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Braised Chicken Thighs With Coconut Milk, Chile + Pineapple Recipe

Excerpted from ‘Cook Simply, Live Fully’ by Yasmin Fahr

AARP

Published May 29, 2024

Matt Russell

The pineapple addition to this recipe did not come about during a moment of culinary genius. Nor did it occur because I thought about how the sweet-sour profile often used in Thai cuisine might work here. It happened because I was too lazy to cut open a pineapple I’d purchased. After first making this, I knew it needed a little something more, which is when I looked over at my pineapple, the eyes on its body, fully yellow, mocking me with its obvious ripeness, countering my obvious laziness. That’s when the lightbulb went off. Still, I hesitated because I remember all the bad ’80s/early ’90s food that contained overly sweet pineapple, but let me reassure you that the pineapple — just a cup of it — balances out the richness of the braising liquid. —Yasmin Fahr

Cookbook that says Cook Simply, Live Fully, Yasmin Fahr, Flexible, Flavorful Recipes for Any Mood

Courtesy HarperCollins

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Braised Chicken Thighs With Coconut Milk, Chile + Pineapple

Serves 4

Active time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Freshly cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, thinly sliced
2 to 2½ pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (4- to 6-ounce) tube tomato paste (about ½ cup), preferably double-concentrated
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen pineapple chunks
2 limes: 1 halved, 1 cut into wedges
1 Fresno pepper, cut into rounds (and seeded, if you’re sensitive to heat)
¼ cup packed fresh cilantro, leaves and tender stems, gently torn or chopped
Naan or cooked rice, for serving

Directions

Pour the coconut milk into a measuring cup or large bowl. Add the cumin, turmeric, a few grinds of black pepper, the soy sauce, and the ginger slices and stir to combine. Set aside.

Pat the chicken dry, then season all over with salt, including underneath the skin, if you’re okay with that. Heat a 12-inch cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat until very hot, about 2 minutes. Carefully pour in the olive oil, then add the chicken, skin-side down, and cook, without moving it, until the skin is browned and easily releases from the pan, 5 to 7 minutes (it’s OK if the chicken thighs are snug in the pan). Use tongs to flip the chicken thighs, cook for 4 minutes more, then rest them along the sides of the pan, with the skin side visible to you, like they are fans at a stadium watching a soccer game in the middle of the pan.

Reduce the heat to medium. Add the tomato paste to the center of the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until it’s a fiery red color, about 2 minutes. Add the pineapple to the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Pour in the coconut mixture, stirring as best you can with the tomato paste, then nestle the chicken back in, skin-side up.

Raise the heat to bring the liquid to a gentle simmer, with small bubbles forming around the chicken pieces, avoiding a boil. Cook until the mixture has thickened and the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Squeeze the juice of 1 lime over the dish, then top with the Fresno pepper and cilantro and serve with the lime wedges and naan or rice.

From the book Cook Simply, Live Fully: Flexible, Flavorful Recipes for Any Mood by Yasmin Fahr Copyright 2024 by Yasmin Fahr. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. Photos by Matt Russell.

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