Hot Tamarind Chicken with Spring Onions

If the chicken thighs are with skin, soak them in water for 1 hour, then peel off the skin. Let the legs boil in plenty of boiling water for 2 minutes, rinse with cold water and discard the cooking water. Cut and chop the tamarind and shrimp paste and from the block. Soak in 50 g of coconut water for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, cut the fresh, washed and peeled ginger crosswise into thin slices. Weigh frozen goods. Wash the fresh lemongrass, remove the hard stalk at the bottom, remove the brown and withered leaves and only use the white to light green parts. Cut this into pieces approx. 8 cm long. Remove the outer, green leaves if necessary. Gently tap the lower half of the pieces with the back of the knife. The stems should remain optically intact.

Wash the small, red chillies and the kaffir lime leaves and use them whole with the stalk. Wash the peppers for garnish, remove the stem, cut open lengthways, unfold, core, lengthways into thin threads and cut them crossways into small cubes.

Pass the tamarind juice through a sieve, discard any hard parts remaining in the sieve. Homogenize the shrimp paste with the magic wand. Bring to a boil in a casserole with tomato juice and coconut water. Dissolve the chicken stock in it. Add the remaining ingredients for the marinade along with the chicken thighs and simmer for 40 minutes without the lid. Stir every now and then. Remove the legs from the broth and drain well. Heat the frying oil to 220 degrees.

Reduce the broth to about halfway. Remove the star anise, cinnamon stick, chillies, some ginger slices and the leaves from the broth and keep them ready. Let the broth cool down a little, put it in the blender and puree finely on the highest setting. Branch 150 g of the puree, heat in a pan and let thicken with the tapioca flour and rice wine mixture. Add the prepared ingredients from the star anise to the leaves of the sauce. Keep warm.

Wash and clean the spring onions and cut to 20 cm. Melt the butter in a large pan, add the spring onions and fry gently for 5 minutes. Dissolve the tapioca flour in the rice wine, mix in the orange juice and salt. Pour the mixture over the spring onions and let simmer gently for 10 minutes with the lid on.

Brown the chicken thighs in 2 portions in the frying oil (takes about 20 seconds), drain well and place in the serving bowl. Pour the solid parts of the sauce over the thighs and garnish with diced pepperoni. Put the spring onions with their sauce in a separate bowl. Serve both warm and enjoy.