Thai Green Bean Salad with Sous Vide Chicken Thigh

This combo of spicy bean salad and chicken thigh is an interesting take on authentic hawker-style food in Thailand. Instead of cooking the chicken on the grill the entire time, this recipe has you cook the chicken sous vide for two hours to ensure it’s extra tender — then you’ll just finish it on the grill (BBQ) for flavor.

Author

Christina Wylie

Christina Wylie is an award-winning writer, author, editor, food stylist, recipe creator, entrepreneur and radio host whose work has been featured in The Times & The Sunday Times, Time Out (Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong and Dubai), Traveler’s Digest, Fah Thai Magazine, Broadsheet, Wining & Dining and many other internationally renowned publications. In 2013, after almost a decade of working as an international journalist, Christina founded the online lifestyle magazine The GAB Magazine, for which she now leads a team of 60 writers based all across Australia. She then founded Samui Life Magazine in 2016. After working as a recipe creator for Anova Culinary for over a year, she signed a cookbook contract with the American-based, international publishing company Quarto. Her cookbook, titled The Sous Vide Kitchen: Techniques, Ideas, and More Than 100 Recipes to Cook at Home, was published worldwide in 2017. She wrote, styled, and photographed everything that you see within that book. In 2017 she opened her first restaurant, Bootlegger, in Koh Samui, Thailand. She is currently in the initial stages of launching Bootlegger 2 in Phuket in 2018, and is looking to open Bootlegger 3 in Bangkok in 2019. She is currently working towards stepping into the world of food and travel presenting. As an entrepreneur herself, Christina co-founded the charity initiative Project Gen Z in 2015 to teach orphaned Cambodian children entrepreneurial skills. A British expat born and raised in Hong Kong, Christina has worked across the globe, and has lived in Thailand, London, Hong Kong, Australia and South Africa over the years.

Prep Time: 00:30

Recipe Time: 02:00

Temperature : 149.9F / 65.5C

Ingredients

• 1 skinless, boneless chicken thigh
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups green beans, sliced into 1-inch segments
• 1/2 cup Thai basil leaves, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh mint, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons fried shallots
• 2–3 Thai chiles, chopped
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar or packed dark brown sugar
• 1 clove garlic clove, crushed
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 4 teaspoons roasted red chile paste

Directions

1. Set the Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker to 147ºF (64ºC).
2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place in a medium zipper lock or vacuum seal bag. Seal using the water immersion technique or a vacuum sealer on the dry setting.
3. Place the bag in the water bath and set the timer for 2 hours.
4. About 20 minutes before the chicken is finished, prepare the salad: In a large mortar, pound the green beans with a pestle until tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
5. Add the basil, cilantro, mint, fried shallots, and 1 to 2 Thai chiles to the beans.
6. Place the palm sugar in the mortar and pound until smooth. Add the garlic and the remaining Thai chile and pound to chop. Add the fish sauce and lime juice and pound to combine.
7. Pour the dressing over the green bean mixture and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt.
8. About 10 minutes before the chicken is finished, preheat the grill to high.

Finishing Steps

1. When the timer goes off, remove the bag from the water bath. Remove the chicken from the bag and pat dry with paper towels.
2. Brush about 1 teaspoon red chile paste on each side of the chicken. Transfer to the grill and sear until lightly charred, about 30 seconds per side. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes.
3. Slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Serve alongside the green bean salad, with the remaining 2 teaspoons red chile paste on the side.