Poached Chicken Breast

Poaching chicken is a fabulously light, fat-free way of cooking chicken.  The best bit is that its pretty sure to be moist and you can infuse it with a plethora of flavours to suit what you are using it for.  An added bonus in our warmer summer months is this is quick and doesn’t produce a lot of heat… no sweating over a hot stove or having to put the oven on.

I’ve put together a couple of different versions for you, followed by some examples of what you can then do with the chicken.  Suffice it to say its versatile, keeps well and tastes great.

For each option I’ve used 2 medium sized chicken breasts.

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Asian Fusion Flavours

  • 1 stalk lemon grass – bruised
  • 8 slices of ginger
  • 3 cloves of garlic sliced
  • 1/2 lemon, sliced
  • 1 tsp black pepper corns
  • 2L water

Place all your ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a simmer.

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Cook for about 15 mins before adding your chicken breasts.  Place the chicken into the liquid and bring back to the simmer for about 10 mins.  Cover the saucepan and turn off the heat and let sit for another 10-15 mins.  At this point your chicken should be cooked.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

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5

Can be shredded, cut or kept whole for use at a later time.

Simple Poaching Flavours

  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 lemon, sliced
  • 1 tsp black pepper corns
  • 2 bay leaves

Cook your chicken as per the above method.

Other herbs & flavours you could use:

  • sliced fresh lime
  • a couple of sprigs of fresh Rosemary
  • a few sprigs of thyme ( I add this to the above basic lemon recipe quite a lot)
  • orange zest
  • star anise, cinnamon, ginger & garlic

And finally, this is some idea’s of what you could make with your poached chicken (stay tuned for updated links):

  • Quick Asian Style Chicken Salad
  • Rice Paper Rolls
  • Quick Chicken and Pesto Pasta
  • Chicken and Mango Salad
  • Chicken and Salad Wraps or Sandwiches
  • Club Sandwich with a modern twist

And that is just scratching the surface of where you could go with this easy recipe.

Happy Cooking, and Happy Eating,

Leah

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