Vietnamese lemon grass and chilli chicken
I sometimes think I could live on Vietnamesefood. I love the key flavours and I adore the balance of hot, sour, salty andsweet that is such a dominant characteristic. This is incredibly easy,somewhere between a stir-fry and a sauté, with just enough sauce to coat thepieces of chicken.
Ingredients
- 800 g 1lb 12oz skinless boneless chicken thighs, or mini fillets
- 2 lemon grass stalks
- 4 tbsp fish sauce
- 2½ tbsp caster sugar to taste
- 2 red chillies halved, deseeded and shredded
- 4 garlic cloves crushed
- 2 tbsp groundnut or sunflower oil or other oil of your choice
- 1 onion halved, cut into slim crescent moon-shaped slices
- 125 ml 4fl oz chicken stock
- juice of ½–1 lime plus more if needed
- 2 tbsp sprigs of purple amaranth or coriander (optional)
- ½ tbsp sesame seeds to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Trim any fat from the thighs and cut the flesh into bite-sized pieces.
- Remove the coarse outer layers from the lemon grass and trim the top and base.
- Chop the rest – the softer bit of the lemon grass – as finely as you can.
- Put half of this into a bowl with the fish sauce, caster sugar, half the chillies, all the garlic and the chopped chicken.
- Mix together with your hands, cover with cling film and put into the fridge.
- Leave to marinate for at least four hours; overnight is even better.
- Bring it to room temperature before cooking.
- Heat the oil in a wide-based saucepan or a wok set over a medium heat.
- Add the chicken and cook on all sides, getting a really good colour all over it.
- Add the reserved chillies, reserved lemon grass and the onion and stir-fry until the onion starts to soften.
- Be careful not to burn the chillies or the lemon grass.
- Pour in the stock, then reduce the heat, cover and allow the chicken to cook for about five minutes.
- Remove the lid, increase the heat and continue to cook until the liquid is reduced.
- You want a mixture that is wetter than a stir-fry but drier than a braise.
- Add lime juice to taste, then check for seasoning and sweet-sour balance, adjusting with sugar and lime.
- Sprinkle with the amaranth leaves or coriander and sesame seeds, if you like, and serve with brown rice and stir-fried greens.
