← Nouns Cooking · Vietnamese

Ingredients

• 600 g boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
• 3 tbsp fish sauce, divided
• 2 tsp Sugar
• ½ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Ground turmeric (optional)
• 3 lemongrass stalks, tender part very finely minced (about 5 tbsp)
• 2 Shallot, finely chopped
• 4 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 2 bird’s eye chillies (or 1 tbsp sambal), sliced
• 3 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 120 ml coconut water (or water)
• ½ Onion, cut into slivers (optional)
• 2 Spring onion, cut into 5 cm lengths

Method

1. Toss the chicken with 1 tbsp fish sauce, the sugar, salt, turmeric and a third of the lemongrass. Leave for 10 min while you chop everything else.
2. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan over medium heat. Fry the remaining lemongrass with the shallots, garlic and chilli for 2–3 minutes, stirring, until golden and very fragrant. Scoop out half and set aside.
3. Turn the heat to high, add the chicken in a single layer and leave it for 3–4 min to brown, then stir-fry for 3 min more.
4. Add the remaining fish sauce and the coconut water and let it bubble for 5–6 min, stirring, until the liquid has reduced to a sticky glaze and the chicken is cooked through (75°C / 165°F).
5. Toss in the onion, spring onion and the reserved lemongrass mixture for 1 minute. Serve with plenty of steamed rice.

Tips

• Mince the lemongrass as finely as you can (a food processor helps): coarse pieces stay woody.
• Bone-in chicken pieces are traditional and extra juicy; give them 5 minutes longer in step 4.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Hungry Huy Wok and Kin Vicky Pham