Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken Bowl
Chicken thighs cooked hard in lemongrass and fish sauce, tipped over cold noodles, cucumber and a heap of soft herbs.
Why it works
Fish sauce and honey reduce in the pan to a lacquer on the meat, so the bowl needs nothing beyond a sharp lime dressing. Thighs carry enough fat to take a fierce heat for seven minutes without drying, which is what gives you the dark caught edges. The vermicelli wants only four minutes in a bowl of boiling water, so it is soaked, rinsed cold and waiting long before the chicken is done.
Method
- Boil the kettle. Toss the chicken with the lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce, honey and pepper in a bowl.
- Put the vermicelli in a large heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and leave 4 minutes, until pliable with a little bite. Drain, rinse cold and leave in the colander to shed its water.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high. Spread the chicken out and leave it 3 minutes without stirring, until the undersides are dark. Turn and cook 4 minutes more, until firm and the juices run clear.
- Whisk the lime juice, fish sauce, honey, chilli and 3 tbsp water in the emptied noodle bowl.
- Divide the noodles between four bowls with the carrot, cucumber, beansprouts, lettuce and herbs. Add the chicken and everything left in the pan, spoon the dressing over and scatter with peanuts.
For the toddler
Set aside a few pieces of chicken at step 1, before the fish sauce and honey go on, and fry them in plain oil — honey is not for a baby under one, and maple syrup stands in. Peanuts are a choking risk under five, so grind them fine or leave them off. Keep the dressing off their bowl, cut the noodles up and chop the chicken small.
How the toddler notes workChef’s notes
Pork shoulder steaks, sliced thin, cook in the same time. Firm tofu needs 6 minutes in a drier pan.
Blitz the lemongrass, garlic and chilli together while the kettle boils.
Pickled carrot and mooli in rice vinegar, prawn crackers, or a saucer of nuoc cham with extra chilli in it.
Keep the dressing separate and it holds 2 days. Good cold, straight from the fridge.