Kinda Vietnamese

When we were in Palm Springs we were fortunate enough to enjoy a delicious Vietnamese meal. I have never tried my hand at cooking any before and it did inspire my interest in learning some different dishes.

Thus, I began a Google hunt of recipes.

I had not really planned on cooking anything this week, and had gone shopping at Red Pearl to get a few things I needed for a dish for next week. Though it was not on my list (along with about 10 other things not on my list that I bought anyway) I could not resist buying some lemongrass. When I got home and put things away I realized I needed to find something to use it in.

After looking through several sites I came upon a recipe that called for lemongrass along with other ingredients I already had. 

Did I make it like the recipe? No, but this is my take on Lemongrass Chicken. All the ingredients are approximate because I don't generally measure, resorting to eyeballing amounts nearly all of the time.

Marinade

3 tablespoons lime juice*

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons fish sauce (Red Boat is my favorite)

3 stalks lemon grass, (minced creamy colored and soft green parts only)*

4 cloves garlic, minced*

1 inch knob of ginger, minced

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons sweet red chili sauce (I used Thai Kitchen brand** because I had some in the fridge)

2 tablespoons avocado oil (It is a neutral oil but I am sure olive oil would work well too)

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil (I had no fresh)

2 large squirts of Sriracha (a tablespoon maybe)

Mix this all together and marinate. This was enough for 3 small chicken breasts I had cut into strips. I left the chicken marinating in the refrigerator all day, took it out of the marinade then cooked it quickly on a hot griddle.

I served it on top of Jasmine rice with a side of "Asian" slaw. (Regular coleslaw mix with added peppers and scallions and a dressing made from seasoned salt, sesame oil and apple cider vinegar)

The meal was delicious, but there are some things I will do differently the next time I make it.

* I have tubes of garlic, ginger, and lemongrass paste in the freezer. All I would need to do is take them out of the freezer for a few minutes, knead the tubes and I could squirt a healthy amount into the liquids which would save time and deliver the same flavor. The same thing with the lime juice. I squeezed it from fresh limes and it might have worked just as well using bottled lime juice.

** I had Thai Kitchen brand sweet chili sauce ( available at just about any grocery store on the ethnic foods aisle) I am sure there are brands with a much better flavor.

The dish was not hot enough for my tastes and I wish I had added some chili crisp to the marinade, and it really needed more sriracha.

The last thing I would change would be to cook it outside on the grill. I think the flavors would be a little more intense and the marinade would caramelize to add to the enjoyment. Even with my griddle very hot, there was no caramelization. 

This dish is definitely going to be in our summer rotation! Try it and you might like it.