Coconut chicken strips with avocado dipping sauce

The kids will love this family-friendly fried chicken dish with a coconutty twist. And because it’s served with a tasty avocado dipping sauce, they can eat with their fingers – cutlery is optional!

Credit: Brett Stevens

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  40 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 kg chicken breasts
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup white rice flour
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tsp tamari
• 1½ cups panko breadcrumbs
• ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 250 ml (1 cup) vegetable oil

Avocado dipping sauce

• 1 large avocado
• ½ bunch coriander
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• 1 garlic clove peeled
• 2 limes, juiced
• ½ tsp sea salt

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Cut chicken breasts in half and then into long 3 cm-wide strips. Season with salt and pepper.

In a wide, shallow bowl, place rice flour. In another shallow bowl, lightly beat eggs, water and tamari.

In a third bowl, combine panko and coconut and mix well.

With a single hand and working with one piece of chicken at a time, dredge chicken in rice flour, shaking off excess, then dip into egg mixture, allowing excess to drip back into the bowl. Use your dry hand to dredge chicken in the panko-coconut mixture, pressing slightly to coat. Repeat with remaining chicken.

Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Fry three to four chicken pieces at a time, taking care not to overcrowd the pan, for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Transfer the chicken strips to a large baking tray.

When all chicken is fried and on tray, bake the chicken for 10 minutes, until just cooked through.

To make avocado dipping sauce, place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Season as desired.

Serve chicken strips with dipping sauce on a large platter.

 Photography by Brett Stevens. Styling by Ainsley Johnstone. Art direction by Anne Marie Cummins.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.