Gai Haw Bai Toey (Chicken Wrapped in Pandan Leaf)

Totally fallen in love with these little guys! I’ve had them once or twice before in Thai restaurants but they always seemed dried out and kind of bland- not so with this recipe. Pandan (or screwpine) is basically just a stiff spiky leaved South East Asian plant that has a slightly perfumed/ grassy flavour when fried. The leaves are just a wrapper, and are not meant to be eaten. I did make a pandan and coconut jelly with the spare leaves but that’s another story for another day….

for 2 people/ starters for 4, use:

• two chicken breasts/ 4 thighs, trimmed of fat and cut into chunks bigger than bite size


• a pack of pandan leaves (only available at Asian grocers), banana leaves are a good substitute.


• a big hefty shake of oyster sauce


• a big splash of light soy sauce


• a small splash of sesame oil


• a small splash of Shaoxing rice wine/ sherry


• a pinch of sugar


• a small handful of fresh coriander, roughly torn


• 4 cloves garlic, peeled


• a big pinch of black pepper


• vegetable oil for frying

Pound up the coriander into a paste, add in the garlic cloves and black pepper until you have a reasonably fine paste. Throw this into a bowl and on top, add the four sauces and sugar. Put into this mix the chunks of chicken and give everything a good stir through. Leave to marinade for one hour, making the dipping sauce in the meantime.

For the dipping sauce, gently warm through…

• a big splash of light soy sauce


• a small splash of dark soy sauce


• a small splash of water


• a finely chopped red chilli


• a sprinkle of sesame seeds

There are basically two ways to wrap up your chicken in the pandan leaves. The easiest way is to take half a strip and just keep wrapping it round the meat, pinning in place with a cocktail stick. The other way is to use the top halves of two leaves ( the pointed tip end); hold these in a V shape, with the base of one leaf on top of the other. Place the chicken ontop of the intersection of the leaves folding left over, then right over, alternating until you reach the end and everything is encased in a little parcel. See my photo above for both types of wrapping.

Set up a steamer/ colander over boiling water and steam the pandan parcels for 10 minutes. They’ll now be cooked but look pasty and dull. Fill the bottom on a wok with oil and now fry them for 5 minutes or so until the leaves are crisp and the chicken has taken on a golden brown colour.

Unwrap and discard the leaves (they’re not meant to be eaten) and dip into the sauce.