Grilled lemon grass chicken

THINK of a cooking method that just melts away the fat, leaving behind lots of succulent flavour.

That’s grilling, an overlooked and yet ideal way of cooking meats and vegetables, especially during these post-festive days.

Grilled foods offer a simplicity of tastes, ideal for palates assaulted by too many sauces and flavours during this period.

Here I opt for a Vietnamese recipe for lemon grass chicken, threaded on a skewer, interspersed with kesturi lime leaves for extra flavour.

Aside from its fragrance, lemon grass is also a good source of folate, magnesium, zinc and copper, and a very good source of iron, potassium and manganese. It also has anti-inflammatory properties.

The bush may look like an overgrown clump of lallang, but you want, not the leaves, but the white bulbous stems at the base. When sliced, the stems reveal bands of colour between the layers. This is where the fragrance resides so keep slicing till there is no more colour, to obtain the maximum fragrance.

As with Malay satay, onions and garlic form the bulk of the marinade. Instead of the trade spices of cumin and coriander found in satay, Vietnamese grilled chicken uses turmeric, lemon grass, ginger and fish sauce for flavouring.

When grilling skewered meat, be sure that the meat is sliced fine to encourage quick cooking. You also need to soak the wooden skewers first to prevent burning.

Finally this chicken takes less then 15 minutes of cooking time which makes it ideal post-festive food from another perspective.

Ingredients:

Grilled Lemon Grass Chicken
(For 2-4, depending on whether it is served as a main course or an appetizer)

• 10 bamboo skewers
• 20 young lime leaves
• 200 g dark chicken meat, skin and visible fat removed, cut into small pieces
• 2 stalks lemon grass
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 shallots
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 thumb-length knob of ginger
• 1 tsp. fish sauce
• 1 tsp. salt
• Pepper to taste
• 1 tsp. sugar

Method:

1. Soak the skewers in water for at least 15 minutes.
2. To make the marinade: Strip off the fibrous outer leaves of the lemon grass. Use the white part of the stem only and cut into shorter lengths. Peel garlic, shallots and ginger and drop everything into the food processor, including the oil and turmeric powder.
3. Process paste till it is fine, using short bursts of the machine. Add fish sauce, salt, pepper and sugar, not too much of the last, because you do not want the chicken to burn.
4. Rub this paste well into the meat. Leave covered in the fridge for at least two hours, if not, overnight.
5. Thread meat on the skewers interspersing with the lime leaves.
6. Cook over a medium fire on the barbecue or under the grill, turning often to ensure even browning. Serve at once.