Peppery chicken thigh bechamel filling
The inside of the pie: chicken thigh cooked until just tender, soft vegetables, and a white sauce thick enough to behave under puff pastry and peppery enough to be remembered.
Quick answer
Poach chicken thigh at a bare simmer until it reaches 75 C, then dice it. Make a medium-thick bechamel with 35 g butter and 35 g flour to 300 g of milk and poaching liquid, season with white pepper in two stages, fold in onion, carrot, potato and peas, and chill completely in a shallow tray before filling any pastry.
Home recreation This is my own attempt, guided by published descriptions of the shop's pies. Oven Marvel never published its recipe. It is one of my Oven Marvel recipe recreations, and the recreation log shows how each one got here.
Ingredients
Chicken
Vegetables
Bechamel
Method
Put the chicken, water and a pinch of salt in a small pan. Bring to the barest simmer, cover and cook gently for about 20 minutes. The thickest piece should reach at least 75 C and the meat should just begin to separate along its fibres. A rolling boil makes thigh stringy; keep it quiet.
Lift the chicken onto a board and let it rest for 5 minutes, then cut it into 1.5 cm chunks. Strain and keep 150 g of the poaching liquid; the rest makes a good cook's soup.
Simmer the potato dice in salted water for about 8 minutes, until a knife slides in with a little resistance. Drain well. Some pieces will soften further in the sauce, which is what you want.
Melt the 10 g butter over a low heat and cook the onion and carrot for 6 to 8 minutes, until soft and sweet but not coloured.
In a clean pan, melt the 35 g butter, stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring, until it smells nutty but is still pale.
Add the warm milk and poaching liquid a splash at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Bring to a gentle simmer and keep it there, stirring, for at least 2 minutes after it thickens. Stir in half the white pepper.
Off the heat, fold in the chicken, potato, onion and carrot, the frozen peas (and corn, if using). Add the sugar, the remaining white pepper and salt. Taste, remembering the filling will taste milder once cold.
Spread the filling in a shallow tray and press baking paper onto the surface. Refrigerate as soon as it stops steaming, within about 30 minutes, and chill for at least 2 hours until completely cold. Use within 2 days.
What is this filling based on?
On what reviewers wrote about the Oven Marvel pie, not on a recipe from the shop, which was never published. The sourced descriptions:
- Chicken thigh cooked slowly until the fibres just begin to separate, and only then combined with the sauce (ieatishootipost, 2013).
- Homemade bechamel, described as medium-thick (SETHLUI.com, 2020) and flowing slowly when the pie was cut (springtomorrow, 2014).
- Peas, onion and carrot (ieatishootipost, 2013), with potato that some remember in chunks and one reviewer as a peppery mashed and smashed filling (Burpple).
- White pepper, and a slightly sweet finish (Burpple).
The weights, temperatures and method are mine.
Why poach rather than fry the chicken?
Two reasons. Poaching at a bare simmer cooks thigh gently, which matches the “fibres just separating” texture Leslie Tay described, rather than the firm, browned chunks you get from frying. And the poaching liquid becomes the stock for the sauce, so nothing is wasted and the sauce tastes of chicken rather than of milk alone. Always check the thickest piece reaches 75 C. A cheap probe thermometer is the best kitchen tool I have bought for this whole project.
Why split the white pepper?
White pepper added early mellows into a deep, rounded warmth; added late, it keeps its sharper aroma. Using half of each gives you both. The quantity here, about 2 g for roughly 900 g of filling, is what I call the old-school level. If you are cautious, start at 1 g. The white pepper guide explains the difference between white and black pepper and why white suits a pale sauce.
Why does it need to be so cold?
Two reasons that happen to agree with each other.
Food safety. Cooked chicken and milk sauce are exactly the foods that should not linger between about 5 C and 60 C, the danger zone where bacteria multiply quickly (Singapore Food Agency). A Singapore kitchen keeps food in that zone for a long time, so spread the filling thin, get it into the fridge quickly, and use it within two days, comfortably inside general leftover guidance (USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service).
Pastry. Warm filling melts the butter layers in puff pastry from the inside. The base goes soggy and the layers fuse. Cold filling keeps the butter solid until the oven does its work.
How thick should it be?
It should hold together on a spoon and slide off slowly, with some potato collapsing into the sauce. If you draw a finger across the back of a coated spoon, the line should stay clean. The full explanation, with ratios for thinner and thicker sauces, is in bechamel thickness for pie filling.
How much filling goes into each pie?
About 130 g for a flat pie on a 12 cm base, which this batch covers six times with a spoonful or two to spare. For smaller party pies on 8 cm bases, use about 50 g each and expect around 16 pies.
What else can I use it for?
- A pot pie: spoon it into a baking dish, cover with a single sheet of puff pastry and bake.
- Vol-au-vents: warm it through gently and spoon into baked pastry cases.
- On toast: reheat until piping hot, stir in a little extra milk, and pile it on thick toast. Not authentic. Very good.
Questions people ask
Can I use chicken breast instead of thigh?
You can, but it dries out on the second cooking inside the pie. Leslie Tay specifically noted thigh meat in the Oven Marvel pie. If you use breast, poach it for less time and cut it into bigger pieces.
Can I make the filling ahead?
Yes, and you should. Made the day before, it is properly cold and easier to portion. Keep it covered in the fridge and use within two days.
Can I freeze the filling?
Yes, for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the fridge and stir well, as the sauce may look a little split until it is mixed.
Sources for this page
- Oven Marvel: super duper addictive chicken pies
- Oven Marvel: chicken pies at Sunshine Plaza
- Oven Marvel, Sunshine Plaza: the best chicken pies in Singapore
- Oven Marvel at Sunshine Plaza: reviews
- Glossary A-Z on food safety
- Leftovers and food safety
Every source we used, with notes on what each one says: sources and further reading.
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