Lemongrass Chicken
As this crazy summer heat wears on, I’ve found myself really wanting Vietnamese food. Maybe not so much a hot bowl of pho, but a nice rice noodle (bún) bowl is so refreshing on hot days. I love the many fresh herbs and cold vegetables (fresh and pickled together!) that compliment deliciously grilled meats and cold rice noodles. Nong La is my go-to for a nice pork bún bowl, and their egg rolls are to die for. I don’t dare try and recreate their pork bowl, but I did find a nice recipe for a lemongrass chicken on the interwebs. Here’s the recipe as adapted from Bon Appetit. BA’s original recipe calls for chicken breasts which you have to pound to eliminate dryness, but I used chicken thighs since they tend to have more flavor and frankly are much harder to dry out.
INGREDIENTS:
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4 lemongrass stalks, tough outer layers removed, chopped
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1 medium shallot, chopped
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2 garlic cloves, chopped
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1/4 cup fresh lime juice
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2 teaspoon fish sauce
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2 teaspoon light brown sugar
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1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
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2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
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Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
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2 tablespoons vegetable oil
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Lime wedges (for serving)
Ready for a Whirl
- Process lemongrass, shallot, garlic, lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar, and red pepper flakes in a food processor to a fine paste.
Lemongrass Marinade - Season chicken with salt and pepper and place in a resealable plastic bag or container. Add lemongrass mixture; chill at least 30 minutes (or up to 2 days ahead).
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Remove chicken from marinade, scraping off excess (this is important!), and cook until golden brown, 5-7 minutes; turn and cook until cooked through, about 2 minutes longer. You can also throw these on a grill if you can stand the heat!
- Serve chicken with lime wedges for squeezing over.
NOTE: If you’re doing whole-30, you can substitute the brown sugar for orange juice. However, the nice thing about the sugar is that it will make sure you get a nice char on the chicken once you cook it.
Kevin and I recently discovered GABA sprouted brown rice (unpolished brown rice that has been allowed to germinate to improve the flavor and texture and increase levels of nutrients such as γ-aminobutyric acid), and we LOVE it despite the longer preparation requirements. To maximize the nutrient factor and flavor to the meal, I sliced and sauteed a leek in a wee bit of soy sauce and tossed it with a batch of GABA rice in chicken broth in lieu of traditional rice vermicelli noodles. Together the lemongrass chicken, Pickled Daikon and Carrot, freshly shredded lettuce, Persian cucumber, cilantro, green onion, and crushed toasted peanuts (oops, not pictured), it was the perfectly balanced healthy dinner!
