The Best Recipe for Honduran Chicken in Coconut Milk
In my foodie opinion, there’s no better way to immerse yourself in a new culture than through their local cuisine. Finding and taking local cooking classes is one of my favorite activities in a new destination! Not only does it allow you to connect with the locals, but you’ll learn new cooking skills and likely get to eat some seriously tasty food. My love of international cooking classes led me to the Roatán Backpacker’s Hostel and a heaping plate of Miss Betty’s delicious chicken in coconut milk with coconut rice and beans, plantains and spicy mutton pepper sauce. Keep reading for the best recipe for Honduran chicken in coconut milk!
If you’re traveling to Roatán and you’re interested in booking a cooking class with Miss Betty, follow this link. I highly recommend it as one of the best activities to book in Roatan!
Recipe for Honduran Chicken in Coconut Milk
Making Homemade Coconut Milk
Although you could easily buy coconut milk in a can…there’s nothing quite like the taste of freshly made coconut milk grated in your own kitchen. The process sounds daunting at first, but is actually quite easy. The hardest part is opening the coconut!
Simply grate the coconut “meat” on a coconut grater or a large cheese grater over a shallow bowl. Cover the shaved coconut with room temperature water and squeeze handfuls of the coconut repeatedly for a few minutes. Separate the resulting milk and the shaved coconut in two different bowls, add more water and repeat the process a second time. Separate milk and coconut with a sieve and set milk aside.
Prepare the Chicken
Now for the main course, the chicken in coconut milk! Start by rinsing the chicken and soaking it in lime juice for five minutes. After five minutes, rinse the chicken again, season and set aside.
Next, heat up the oil in your skillet. Add sugar to the skilled and, after it turns brown, add chicken, sweet pepper, onion, garlic, culantro and chicken bouillon and heat until juices cook down. Add coconut milk and cook uncovered until chicken is fully cooked.
Make the Mutton Pepper Hot Sauce
Now for a little bit of Bay Islands spice! The mutton pepper is indigenous to the Bay Islands region of Honduras, which makes it an extra special ingredient to use in Roatán. Thankfully, all you need are the right ingredients and a blender to make this tasty hot sauce.
Chop all ingredients and add to blender. Blend until smooth and, after 30 minutes, your hot sauce is ready to enjoy!
The Final Product: Chicken in Coconut Milk
Now that you have your freshly made coconut milk, savory chicken and spicy mutton pepper sauce…you’re ready to enjoy your Honduran meal! Paired with coconut rice and beans, fried plantains and an ice-cold Salva Vida (or four), chicken in coconut milk is not a dish to be missed when visiting Roatán.
If you enjoy Honduran and Central American cuisine, Roatán should definitely have a spot on your travel bucket list. The island is filled with delicious restaurants and tasty dishes like traditional baleadas, mccoy, machuca and tapado as well as rich Honduran coffee and chocolate. If you make this recipe for Honduran chicken in coconut milk, leave me a comment below and let me know how your dish turned out!
Honduran Chicken in Coconut Milk with Mutton Pepper Sauce
Equipment
- Large metal grater for shaving coconut
Ingredients
Coconut Milk
- 1 coconut
- room temperature water
Chicken in Coconut Milk
- 1 whole chicken cut into pieces
- 1 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1 sweet pepper chopped
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 tbsp canola oil
- 1 lime
- 4 cubes chicken bouillon
- 1 small onion chopped
- 5 stalks culantro
- 1 tbsp sugar
- black pepper to taste
- all-purpose seasoning to taste
Mutton Pepper Sauce
- 1/2 sweet pepper
- 1 small onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch all-purpose seasoning
- 2-3 mutton peppers depending on desired spice level
- 2 tomatoes
- 5 stalks culantro
- 1 cup vinegar
- black pepper to taste
- 1 lime juiced
Instructions
Coconut Milk
- Grate the coconut meat. If you don't have a large coconut grater, you can use a cheese grater.
- In a bowl, add just enough water to cover the meat. Squeeze the shaved coconut to extract the juice. Do this for a few minutes to extract all the juice.
- Separate the meat from the milk. Repeat the process again with the same amount of water. When finished, strain the milk through a sieve to get rid of small pieces of coconut.
Chicken in Coconut Milk
- Wash chicken thoroughly and soak in lime juice for 5 minutes.
- Rinse lime off chicken and season. Set aside.
- Put oil in large skillet and heat.
- Add sugar to oil and heat until brown.
- Put all ingredients (except coconut milk) into skillet until juices cook down.
- Add coconut milk and continue cooking uncovered until chicken is fully cooked.
Mutton Pepper Sauce
- Put all ingredients into blender and blend together thoroughly.
- Let sit for 30 minutes and enjoy!
If you enjoyed this recipe for Honduran chicken in coconut milk, you may also enjoy my related posts linked below. And, as always, don’t forget to follow along with the adventure on Instagram @madisonsfootsteps!
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Hi, I would like to share this because Very delicious and yummy recipes but with budget-friendly ideas, lots of healthy, quick, vegetarian, chicken etc .Thanks
Glad you enjoyed!