Coconut Curry Chicken Potpie
Coconut curry chicken and sweet potato under a golden puff pastry lid, all in one skillet. A hug with a crust.
Ingredients
- 1large yellow onionchopped, about 1½ cups
- ¼ cupShaoxing winesee Note
- 1 lbrusset potatoespeeled and cut into ½-inch cubes, about 3 cups
- 1 cupthawed frozen peas
- 2 tbspoyster sauce
- 5 tbspneutral cooking oil (such as canola)divided
- 1(2-inch) piece fresh gingerpeeled and minced, about 2 Tbsp.
- 5large garlic clovesminced, about 5 tsp.
- 1 tbspMadras curry powder
- 1 lbsweet potatoespeeled and cut into ½-inch cubes, about 3 cups
- 2 cuplower-sodium chicken broth
- 2 tspgranulated sugar
- 2 tspkosher salt
- 1 tspblack pepper
- 1 tspMSG (such as Ajinomoto)optional
- 1½ (17.3-oz.) pkg. frozen puff pastrythawed
- All-purpose flourfor dusting
- 1large eggbeaten
- 1 lbbonelessskinless chicken thighs, cut into ½-inch pieces, about 2 cups
- 1(13.5-oz.) can unsweetened coconut milkpreferably Chaokoh
- 2 tbspsoy sauce
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400°F with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line a baking sheet with parchment. On a lightly floured counter, roll the puff pastry into a 12-inch square, then trim it into a 12-inch round. Set it on the baking sheet, brush it with egg and chill until you need it. Cold pastry puffs. Warm pastry slumps. Keep it in the fridge.
- Toss the chicken with the oyster sauce in a medium bowl and set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high. Add the ginger and garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in the remaining 3 tablespoons oil, then the sweet potatoes, broth, sugar, salt, pepper and MSG (if using). Bring to a simmer over medium, then lower to medium-low and cook, stirring now and then, until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Transfer to a blender, add the coconut milk and soy sauce, and blend until smooth. Wipe the skillet clean. Hot liquid in a blender: lid on, towel over the top, start slow. Ask me how I know.
- Heat the remaining oil in the skillet over medium-high. Add the chicken and cook, undisturbed, until golden underneath, about 4 minutes. Flip, add the onion and cook, stirring now and then, until soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the Shaoxing wine and scrape up the browned bits. Stir in the curry powder and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in the potato purée and peas and simmer over medium-high, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 1 minute. Take it off the heat. Lay the pastry round over the skillet and tuck the edges under. Bake on the lower rack until the pastry is deeply golden and the filling bubbles at the edges, 25 to 30 minutes. Let it stand 10 minutes, then serve. Ten minutes is a long time to stare at a potpie. Do it anyway. The filling is lava.
Kitchen's closed Deeply golden means deeply golden. Pale puff pastry is just a damp cracker with ambitions.