SRC: Lemongrass Chicken

Another month, another SRC recipe.  I’ve missed SRC, it was on hiatus for the Christmas season and it is finally time to post our new recipe – yeay!

This month I received the fabulous blog, Shockingly Delicious, which can’t be describe with words – you just have to visit her site.  She has over 25 years of food writing and recipe developing under her belt, and it comes through glaringly on her site – she has won awards for her pies, been featured in numerous newspapers for her food writing and was even featured in Saveur magazine – ya, this lady is Talented – with a capital T.

As always with a new blog to explore, I dove right in, bookmarking and pining recipes immediately.  She has a young family, and so her blog features many kid friendly recipes – which adds a fun twist on a lot of the other blogs I read. I cannot wait to try a few of her pie recipes when most of the fruit comes into season (she only has 21 to choose from and you know, awards to boot).  Thank you Dorothy, for a great blog and much inspiration.

Now, to the recipe – umm, hello delicious.  CH chose this one (it is our new “thing” with SRC – I go through the site, shortlist to maybe 10 recipes, and CH then chooses what recipe I should make).  This one was a hands-down winner and one that I KNOW will be on our table again, and again.  We love flavour (uh, did you know that yet?) and definitely had that.  This Vietnamese-American dish was right up our alley as it featured lemongrass, ginger, fish sauce, garlic, etc., all of which blended to create an absolutely beautiful flavour profile, that left us wanting more.

The only thing I changed from the original recipe was the cooking method and the length of marinading – living a) in Ontario, b) it being winter, and c) not having a patio/deck, grilling was not an option.  So, I decided to bake the chicken in the marinade, broil it for a few minutes at the end (to get a crispy outside) and then I reduced the marinade to a sauce. I also opted to only marinade the chicken for 2 hours before I cooked it, and use boneless skinless thighs, and even with these changes, it was PERFECT.  I am not sure if I will deviate from this method the next time I make it…we will see though.

In any event, give this recipe a try.  I served it over a bed of romaine lettuce, rice noodles, and julienned vegetables (red pepper, carrot, cucumber) and then sprinkled a few springs of basil on top – with the reduced sauce – it was a light, healthful dinner that was packed with flavour – just wish I had more leftovers.

Enjoy.

Lemongrass Ginger Chicken

Yield: 4 Servings
Prep Time:  10 minutes
Cook Time:  45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 stalks lemongrass
• 2-inch piece fresh ginger (about 3 tablespoons finely minced)
• 5 garlic cloves, grated
• 1 jalapeno or Serrano pepper, finely minced
• 4 tablespoon palm sugar (or use brown sugar)
• 3 tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
• S&P, to taste
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Directions – Marinade:

If you haven’t used lemongrass before – to prepare it, simply peel the outer layer of lemongras, cut off top third of stalk, then cut off root end of stalk; discard. Thinly slice the remaining lemongrass and then finely mince it.

Peel and finely mince the ginger and garlic. Finely mince the jalapeno (if you like a milder flavor, begin by slicing pepper in half and removing seeds before mincing).

In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together lemongrass, ginger, garlic, pepper, sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, oil and rice vinegar.

Place the chicken thighs in large zipper-top plastic bag. Pour the marinade into the bag and massage the chicken and the marinade together with your fingers. Zip the top, squeezing air out, and marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours (original recipe says 1 hour is fine, Shockingly Delicious recommends 1-2 days).

Directions – Cooking:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Pour the chicken and the marinade into a 9×12 baking dish.  Place in oven and bake for 35 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and no-longer pink.

Turn-off the oven, and turn-on the broiler to HIGH.  Broil the chicken for 2-3 minutes, or until slightly crisp and nicely brown.

Using tons or a fork, remove chicken and place on plate – set aside.

Place all of the leftover marinade into a small saucepan and heat over medium-high.  Allow mixture to come to a boil, cook for 2-3 minutes, and then remove from heat.  Strain sauce using a colander or sieve (you don’t want any random pieces of lemongrass or garlic in your dish!). Taste sauce and adjust S&P.

Serve chicken with the sauce, and whatever side dish you please.

Enjoy.

Source: Adapted from Shockingly Delicious, originally from RusticGardenBistro.com