Name: Village Boys’ Chicken
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Myanmar (Burma)
Ingredients: ¼ cup peanut oil; 3 or 4 dried red chiles, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes and drained; 1 tablespoon minced garlic; ½ cup minced shallots; 1 stalk lemongrass, trimmed, smashed, and cut into 2-inch lengths; About 3 cups water; 4 cups bite-sized cubes chayote or winter melon; Fish sauce or soy sauce (optional); ¼ teaspoon black pepper; 1 tablespoon peanut oil; ½ teaspoon salt; One 2½- to 3-pound chicken, preferably free-range, chopped into small pieces (see Note), liver reserved, or substitute 2½ pounds legs and breasts, chopped into pieces; 1 tablespoon minced ginger; ¼ teaspoon turmeric

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Burma

By Naomi Duguid

Published 2012

About

The story behind the name of this easy curry is that it’s the kind of dish that village boys who have stolen a neighbor’s chicken would cook up for themselves. I learned it from a generous-hearted friend in Rangoon, as well as a similar version from Cho Cho in her village near Bagan.

In Burma this is usually made with calabash, a kind of gourd that is peeled and cut into bite-sized cubes. I like to use chayote, which is now available in North Ameri