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.
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.
Lemongrass Chicken Skewers
Ingredients
- 500 g skinless, boneless chicken thighs cut into slightly large, bite-sized pieces (they'll shrink as they cook)
- 1 large stalk of lemongrass, peeled and chopped into small pieces
- 3 large cloves of garlic
- 1 small onion, chopped,
- 1½ tbsp sambal oelek or any other chilli paste
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 bouillon or chicken cube, crumbled (optional)
- Salt (very little only if necessary since both fish and dark soy sauces are quite salty)
- 1½ tbsp Any neutral vegetable oil or spray
Instructions
- Put the lemongrass, garlic and onion into a food processor and grind into a paste. Mix in the rest of the ingredients to make the marinade. Taste and correct the seasoning.
- In a large bowl, combine the chicken and the marinade and mix well to coat all the pieces. Cover and refrigerated overnight.
- If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for an hour so that they don't burn in the oven.
- Heat the oven broiler to 220℃.
- Drain the chicken from the marinade and thread them snugly on the skewers (I needed 3 skewers), leaving some space at the top and bottom.
- Place the skewers on a sheet pan with adequate space between them for heat circulation. Drizzle or spray with oil.
- Grill/broil for 15 minutes on one side, turn over and grill for a further 15 minutes till the chicken pieces are cooked and browned. Watch the skewers from time to time so that they don't burn, since ovens can have heat spots. Serve with the raw mango relish.
Raw Mango Relish
Ingredients
- ½ raw, sour green mango, grated or shredded
- 2 fresh green or red chillies
- 1 tbsp coriander root and stem, finely chopped
- 1 shallot or saambar onion, finely chopped
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp soy sauce or fish sauce
Instructions
- To make the relish, mix all the ingredients in a bowl, taste and make sure it is balanced the sweet, sour, salty and hot flavours. Let it rest and develop in taste till you're ready to serve.
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