How to Prepare Lemongrass Chicken Satays

If you are looking for a typical Vietnamese dish then look no further than these Grilled Lemongrass Chicken Satays. They taste great and make an excellent party food as well.

Serves 4 -5

Preparation time: 30 minutes to prepare all the ingredients and then a further hour to marinate. Cooking time: 10 minutes

Equipment:

12 bamboo skewers – soaked in water for 1 hour before skewering the chicken

Ingredients:

500g (1 lb) boneless chicken thighs, cubed. Remove white sinews and fat but these need not be perfect. Chicken breast can also be added to the mix although these will cook slightly differently but it does add variety.

Nuoc Cham (Fish sauce dip)

Marinade:

• 1 tablespoon cooking oil – sunflower, rapeseed
• 1½ tablespoon oyster sauce
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce (Vietnamese preferred)
• 1½ tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 stalks lemongrass, thick bottom part only, the outer layers discarded and the inner part cut into slivers.
• 1 – 2 chili, deseeded and cut into slivers
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3-4 shallots or medium-sized white-skinned onions
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ¾-1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
• ¼ teaspoon each of salt and ground black pepper

Preparation of Lemongrass Chicken Satays:

1. Grind the garlic, shallots (or onions), chili, lemongrass with the oil in a pestle and mortar or whizz in a blender.
2. Add the remining ingredients to the blend to create a thickish paste for coating the chicken. 
3. Marinate the chicken pieces – ensure these are coated all over with the paste and leave for an hour at least in the fridge.
4. Prepare the Nuoc Cham/Fish Sauce Dip according to the recipe – about 1 cup will do.
5. The coated chicken cubes are threaded onto the skewers. Grill these a few at a time either on a ridged pan grill or under a hot grill/broiler. A medium level heat is needed. Cooking time is about 4 minutes and the chicken should have nice brown streaks. Don’t overdo as satay chicken often burns quickly so keep alert.