Lemongrass chicken is a dish that marinates chicken with minced lemongrass, soy sauce and aromatics. Lemongrass is a tropical, perennial type grass that is found throughout Southeast Asia. It comes in the form of stalks with a pale yellow bulb at the end, and green fibrous tops. Its texture is hard, woody and fibrous.
Before using lemongrass, the top and bottom should be discarded. Lemongrass has many uses, including essential oil for aromatherapy, soap scents, and of course flavoring in food. It is a common ingredient found in Vietnamese cuisine.
Common types of lemongrass used in cooking
There are two common types of lemongrass that are used in Vietnamese cuisine, the minced kind and the whole stalk kind. Meat marinating requires the minced lemongrass. You can purchase the pre-minced lemongrass in the frozen section of the Asian store, or you can purchase the dried lemongrass, or powder lemongrass and use that for marinating. You can also make your own minced lemongrass. Check out my post on how to minced “Fresh Lemongrass“.
Making broths and Vietnamese beef stew such as bò kho requires the whole stalk of lemongrass. The purpose of the stalks is to flavor the broth, so don’t eat the stalks. If you tried to eat the stalk, it would be very difficult to chew because the texture is hard, woody and fibrous. Most Asian grocery stores will have fresh stalks of lemongrass for sale. However, on occasions where fresh lemongrass is not available, you can find them here.
How to make lemongrass chicken
Lemongrass chicken is a very flavorful, delicious and easy to make. All you need are chicken tenderloin (or bone in chicken thighs), low sodium soy sauce, minced lemongrass, garlic, shallots, salt, pepper, chili garlic sauce, fish sauce and lemon juice. I chose chicken tenderloin because my husband is not a fan of eating bone-in meat 🤣. However, I think bone in chicken thighs, or drumsticks would be a great substitute for the chicken tenderloins. Mix all the ingredients together and let them marinade for an hour, overnight if possible. Then place the chicken in a pan until the chicken is cooked through. That’s it!!! You’ve got yourself some homemade lemongrass chicken.
How to serve lemongrass chicken?
I like to serve lemongrass chicken with a side of plain Jasmine rice, topped with chopped green onions, red chili pepper flakes and a drizzle of the juice from cooking the lemongrass chicken. Check out my post on how to make perfect Jasmine rice here.
When ordering Vietnamese rice dishes at the restaurant, it will come with a side of pickled daikon radish and carrots (a.k.a. đồ chua). The pickled vegetables complements the dish and gives it a crunch while adding a sweet and sour taste to the dish.
For my carb conscious friends, you can serve lemongrass chicken as a lettuce wrap using butter lettuce.
How to store lemongrass chicken?
Not only is this dish simple and easy to make, it is easy to store as well. It will keep fresh if stored in an air tight container in the refrigerator for a week. If you’ve made to much, like I always do, it can be stored in the freezer as well.
Lemongrass Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 shallots chopped.
- 4 cloves garlic chopped plus 1 tbsp for sauté-ing later.
- 2½ pound chicken tenderloin or bone in chicken thighs.
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 4 tbsp minced lemongrass divided in half. Use ½ for the marinade and ½ for sauté.
- 2 tbsp sugar
- ¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
- ½ tbsp chili garlic sauce
- ¼ tsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ cup chicken broth
Instructions
Instructions for the chicken marinade:
- Sprinkle the chicken tenderloin with a generous amount of salt and gently rub the salt into the chicken to clean the chicken. Rinse the salt off with warm water then pat the chicken dry using paper towels.
- Place the dry pieces of chicken tenderloin in another bowl.
- Gather up the chopped shallots, garlic, salt, pepper, lemongrass, sugar, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, fish sauce and lemon juice.
- In a separate bowl, combine the chopped shallots and garlic, salt, pepper, lemongrass, sugar, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, fish sauce and lemon juice. Mix well.
- Pour the marinade onto the chicken tenderloin. Mix well to make sure all the chicken tenderloin pieces are covered in the marinade.
- Place plastic wrap over the bowl and place the bowl in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Overnight if possible.
Instructions for cooking the marinated chicken:
- Place vegetable oil in a pan and let oil heat up.
- Add the remaining chopped garlic and minced lemongrass to the oil and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken tenderloin into the pan to sear. If you have a small pan, you will need to sear in batches until all the chicken are seared.
- When all the pieces have been seared, place all the pieces of chicken tenderloin back into the pan. Turn the heat on low. Add ½ cup of chicken broth, and let it simmer with the lid on until the chicken is cooked through. Approximately 1 hour, then enjoy!!!
The next time you’re looking for a simple, easy and delicious chicken dinner recipe, give this lemongrass chicken recipe a try. If it’s your first time cooking with minced lemongrass, how was it? Leave me a comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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