Lemongrass chicken served with steamed rice

Tamara West

This was the first Vietnamese dish that I ever tasted (almost 16 years ago) when my Vietnamese friend cooked it for me. She used chicken nibbles, but I prefer to use chicken breast. Since that time, it has evolved to become one of my favourite Vietnamese dishes that I can eat any season, anytime, any day. I love the flavour and pungent smell of lemongrass, garlic and fish sauce, and the taste is even more enhanced when you dip the chicken into the special dipping sauce.

Ingredients

5	Chicken schnitzels, or 2 chicken breasts, sliced in half (Main)
3 stalks	Lemongrass, white part only, chopped
2 cloves	Garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp	Fish sauce
2 tsp	Brown sugar
1 to dust	Plain flour
2	Eggs, lightly beaten
1	Flaky sea salt, to sprinkle

Dipping sauce

1 Tbsp	Water
1 Tbsp	Fish sauce
1	Lime, juiced
1 tsp	Sugar
1 to taste	Chilli, and garlic, chopped

Directions

1. Tenderise the chicken schnitzel or chicken breasts with the back of a knife.
2. Place lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce and brown sugar in a large bowl and mix well. Place the chicken in the bowl and leave to marinate for 30 minutes, covered, in the fridge.
3. For the dipping sauce, combine water, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, chilli and garlic in a small ramekin and set aside.
4. Place a large frying pan on medium-high heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Take the chicken from the fridge, dust with flour, coat with the beaten egg and fry. Sprinkle flaky sea salt on top and cook for couple of minutes. Flip the chicken over and cook for 2 minutes on the other side (no need to season this time) or until cooked through.
5. Cut into strips, scatter over some coriander and chopped chilli and serve with jasmine rice, lettuce, cucumber and dipping sauce.