Vietnamese style grilled chicken

This grilled chicken dish packs a flavour punch! A must try for a summer evening – serve with this cabbage salad for a light lunch or supper.

INGREdIENTS

• 1 kg of chicken thighs, boneless and skinless (we use these)
• 2 tablespoons of light olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 1-2 teaspoons of honey 2 red chillies, seeds removed
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 4 lemongrass stems, trimmed
• Fresh ginger, about 4-5cm, peeled
• Fresh coriander and mint, chopped up
• Juice of 1 lime

METHOD

1. In a small food processor, add the lemongrass and ginger and pulse until very finely chopped / almost minced. Next, add the garlic and chilli and pulse, but not for so long as you don’t want to mince it – just chop it finely. Next add the oil, fish sauce and honey and give a quick pulse to combine thoroughly. Place the chicken thighs in a large mixing bowl and pour over the marinade. You can marinade for as long as you want, an hour is fine or overnight if you prefer.

2. When you’re ready to cook the chicken, pre-heat the oven to 220°C/ 200°C fan. Take a large baking tray and line with bake-o-glide if you have it. If not, use a non-stick tray if you can or line with foil (not baking parchment as you’ll need the grill). Using tongs, lay the chicken thighs out on the tray and pour over any remaining marinade. Place in the oven for 10 minutes at this high temperature, then turn on the grill and for the last 5-6 minutes grill until crispy.

3. Remove from the grill and add to a serving dish, add the coriander, mint and a squeeze of lime to serve. Lastly, one variation of this dish is to add desiccated coconut when you’re ready to grill the chicken – it creates a lovely crunchy texture.

Images: HM