Featured on Tastemade: Lemongrass Chicken- “ Vietnamese Ga Chien Sa Ot “ Recipe
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Have you ever tried Vietnamese chicken infused with lemongrass?
This Vietnamese lemongrass chicken is a super popular pan-fried chicken recipe that's surprisingly super easy to make.
These juicy chicken thighs are infused with a fragrant and savory lemongrass & soy sauce marinade. Since chicken thighs are dark meat they cook up perfect & juicy- they absorb so much of that delicious marinade. A lot of recipes call for soy sauce or oyster sauce but our family recipe uses just soy sauce and a little fish sauce.
What makes this taste more familiar for me is if you replace the light soy sauce with Maggi Seasoning. It really adds that extra umami punch. But if you can't find it, it still tastes amazing.
This recipe is super easy and can be made completely in a cast iron skillet.
This is also amazing on the grill if grilling is an option!
INGREDIENTS:
2-3 lbs organic chicken thighs (skin on)
Marinade:
1 medium shallot onion minced - (*optional, about 2 tbs)
2-3 lemongrass stalks- (outer stems removed, use only the soft parts, cut off dry tops, bruised then minced, about 2-4 tbs of minced lemongrass is good)
2-3 cloves garlic (pressed or finely minced)
1 tsp freshly cracked white pepper or black pepper (to taste, you can do up to 2 tsp if it doesn’t look enough)
2 tbsp fish sauce (I used Squid fish sauce but you can use Red Boat, 5 crab, 3 crab or anything that’s premium)
2 tbs Maggi seasoning or light soy sauce (if you can find Maggi Seasoning, use that instead of light soy sauce)
1/2 tbs juice of freshly squeezed lime (or lemon)
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tbs light olive oil (or vegetable oil)
1-2 thai red chili peppers (*optional for heat)
For skillet cooking:
2-3 tbsp vegetable oil or cooking oil (grape seed, or tea seed oil, or light olive oil)
OPTIONAL GARNISHES:
Cilantro, scallions, Thai basil, and/or lime wedges
PREPARATION:
Mince separately lemongrass (use the bulb only. Remove the outer sheath and chop it finely) , shallot, red chili, garlic.
Prepare marinade ingredients and mix in a bowl.
Pour the marinade over the chicken thighs in a gallon zip lock bag and massage slightly until thighs are covered in the marinade. Remove all air from bag, seal and store in fridge for 30-60 minutes or preferably overnight for best flavor.
On cooking day, preheat your oven to 350°F.
In a cast iron skillet add about 2-3 tablespoons oil in large ovenproof cast iron skillet over medium-high heat (there should be enough oil to cover the entire bottom of your pan).
Flick off most of the lemongrass from chicken (lemongrass has a tendency to burn quick), then add chicken to the skillet with the skin side down and cook until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes (this took me about 5 minutes, but it depends on your stove and how many pieces of chicken you are cooking, the bigger or more chicken pieces the longer it will need to cook). Careful not to burn the skin and make sure you have plenty of oil on the bottom of the pan or the skin WILL stick and/or burn. If skin starts to burn, flip it over to the meat side.
Turn the chicken to meat side down and add any remaining marinade left to your skillet and cook for an additional 5-8 minutes until browned or cooked through (you can put lid on it to help cook through faster). Do not pour the marinade over the chicken skin or it’ll make the skin un-crispy (instead, pour it to the side or middle of your skillet away from the chicken skin). Add chili peppers, taste marinade and additional fish sauce and sugar to taste.
If chicken is still not registering 165F, then pop skillet into the oven for an additional 10- 15 minutes until cooked through (chicken should have internal temperature around 165 degrees in thickest part of chicken. You can also pop into broiler for a minute to brown the skin some if needed.
Garnish with cilantro, scallions and/or lime wedges (all of these are not necessary but adds a little color).
Serve with a bowl of sticky/sweet rice (rinse rice, and add half a finger knuckles worth of water).