Hi Guys,

In honor of Asian Pacific Islander month, I am going to show you my version of Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken. This dish is super flavorful and delicious – bite sized pieces of juicy chicken thighs, with crispy golden skin, infused with the essence of lemongrass, shallots and garlic. The sauce that is added to the chicken has a good balance of umami, sweet and savory, with a hint of spiciness from the chili peppers. If you want to really to elevate this dish, I recommend grilling your chicken thighs! Just marinate the thighs for 3-24 hours and grill!

Ingredients:

1 lb boneless chicken thighs with skin

1 tbs garlic

2 shallots

2 tbsp lemon grass

2-3 Thai chilis (depending on your spice level)

1 tbs spoon each: white sugar, low sodium soy sauce, and good quality fish sauce

1/4 tsp cornstarch black pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Cut your chicken into bite sized pieces (leave whole if you’re grilling your chicken). Pat dry your chicken pieces or place chicken on a tray with paper towels.

2. Finely chop your garlic.

3. Slice shallot into rounds.

4. Finely chop your chili. Wash your hands after handling the chili.

5. Cut the top part of the lemongrass (only use the bottom part – white part). Wash your lemongrass. Peel off the outer layer of the lemongrass. Give the lemongrass a beating with the back of your knife and finely chop.

6. For the sauce -In a bowl, mix your sugar, soy sauce and fish sauce. Add cornstarch.

7. Season chicken thighs with pepper.

8. Heat up oil on medium high.

9. Add your chicken pieces to pan, skin side down.

10. Once chicken skin is nice and golden brown, turn heat down to medium, flip chicken and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked through.

11. Set chicken aside and take off excess oil from pan.

12. In the same pan, lower heat to low, add new oil, shallots, garlic, chili and lemongrass.

13. Saute until shallots are caramelized.

14. Return chicken to pan and pour in the sauce.

15. Coat chicken with sauce and cook until sauce has thicken.

16. Serve with rice and a side of cucumbers.

17. Garnish with cilantro or green onions.

ENJOY!

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