Tonight I tried yet another Asian-inspired meal. This Sticky Coconut Chicken reminds me a bit of sweet and sour chicken with a coconut twist. It is sweet and tangy and pairs beautifully with creamy coconut rice.

I found this recipe on melskitchencafe.com and adapted it to make it lighter. Mel’s blog is my new favorite… I have a feeling I will be featuring a lot of her recipes.

Sticky Coconut Chicken

INGREDIENTS:

4 thin chicken breasts
1 cup canned lite coconut milk
1/8 tsp.  ground ginger
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Marinade chicken in coconut milk, ginger, pepper and red pepper flakes at least one hour (I let mine marinade for about 3 hours). Cook in pan over medium heat.

Glaze:
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS:

While the chicken is cooking, bring above ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until mixture is reduced and thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Be patient because it takes a little while. But once it starts getting really thick, immediately take it off the heat! Glaze both sides of chicken the last few minutes of cooking and serve chicken over rice.

Creamy Coconut Rice

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup brown rice
  • 1 cup lite coconut milk
  • 2.5 cups water
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 Tbsp shredded coconut

DIRECTIONS:

Place all ingredients in a pot over medium heat. Bring to boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 45 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed.