Lemongrass Chicken Skewers

These Lemongrass Chicken Skewers I made were simply the best. Sounds like a brag? Maybe it is, a little bit but it’s also an admission. None of the lemongrass chicken recipes I’d cooked before, stood up to these juicy, salty-spicy, packed-with-flavour chicken skewers. 

How to boost the flavour of your Lemongrass Chicken Skewers

• The key is marination, marination, marination. Although 2 hours is generally enough, I would recommend letting the chicken sit overnight in the fridge. If not overnight, at least for 4-5 hours if possible. 
• Use fresh lemongrass stems. It’s the light yellow coloured part, close to the root. Peel away the papery peels on top to reveal the fragrant stem. It’s hard and a little fibrous so either you can finely mince it, or give it a good smashing in the mortar or grind it in the food processor to draw out the intense herbaceous hit of lemongrass.
• To add a hit of heat, I used 2 tbsps of sambal oelek, the famous Indonesian red chilli and garlic paste, used in many Asian recipes. It’s easily available online. You can use any other red chilli paste of your choice.
• I cooked these Lemongrass Chicken Skewers under the grill in my oven, but you can cook them on a charcoal grill or even in a pan. I will say though, that the charred bits that grilling produces will not happen in a pan. Although, they’ll still turn out to be the bomb in terms of flavour.
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I used bamboo skewers for my chicken. so I soaked them in a tray of water for an hour. This prevented them from cathching fire in the oven. If you have metal skewers thought, this step is obviously not required.

I served these deliciously aromatic chicken skewers with a side of hot mango relish. Since this is the season for sour raw mangoes, this piquant relish pairs beautifully with the rich fattiness of chicken thighs. We like our food a little spicy so I’ve added three bird’s eye chillies. You can reduce the numbers or leave them out entirely and add a milder chilli pepper instead.