A delicious recipe for lemongrass-marinated chicken skewers that will transport you directly to Vietnamese Street Food markets
Known as Gà xiên nướng sả in Vietnam, you’ll find these lemongrass skewers everywhere in the country. With a marinade based on lemongrass (no kidding?), garlic, spring onions, and a few other ingredients that are literally mashed to better penetrate the meat pieces and bring an unparalleled taste, you’ll eat a meal worthy of the best restaurants!
Far from teriyaki skewers, yakitori skewers or even Japanese tsukune, this dish has a truly unique taste
What are Vietnamese lemongrass chicken skewers?
This dish is part of the broader Vietnamese cuisine category of “grilled meat skewers”, known as xiên nướng. Gà means chicken and sả means lemongrass. This classification is reminiscent of the Moo Ping from Thai cuisine.
You will have immediately noticed the difference: the Thai skewers are much more compact.
Moreover, like Moo Ping, in Vietnam you’ll more often find the pork version at night market stalls, which in my opinion is the most flavorful.
Strangely, it’s the chicken version that has made its way into the French collective culinary imagination. To the point that requests for this recipe easily account for 1/5 of my inbox. I agree, it’s delicious, but I admit I prefer the pork version.
Generally, Vietnamese skewers are prepared in two stages, first the marinade which can last up to 24 hours, and then the glazing, directly during cooking: whether it’s in the oven, in a pan or on a traditional charcoal grill.
The main ingredients for lemongrass chicken skewers
Lemongrass: it’s hard to make lemongrass skewers without lemongrass. Usually you need to remove the tough outer layers, but since we’re blending everything, it’s not necessary
Palm sugar: Take the block form or the one in a jar (much more convenient) called coconut sugar. This sugar brings a little extra in terms of taste, a unique and traditional aftertaste. Generally, if you can’t recreate the taste of glazed skewers from Southeast Asia, it’s because of this ingredient. You can substitute it with brown or cane sugar and it will be very good, but now you’ve been warned.
Fish sauce: Let’s be clear, having fish sauce at all is already very good. But if you’re lucky enough to have an Asian supermarket nearby, try to choose a good quality one. Honestly, you can taste the difference! Personally, I prefer Phú Quốc. It’s also used to make a delicious homemade nem sauce
Hoisin sauce: If you’re a regular on the site, no need to introduce it. This sauce that you can make at home with my hoisin sauce recipe is often used in Asian barbecues, and even to flavor an authentic Phở
Lemongrass Chicken Skewers
Matériel
- 6 Bamboo skewers 25 cm
Ingredients
- 450 g chicken thighs boneless and skinless, in small pieces
Marinade
- 1 stalk lemongrass roughly chopped
- 1 clove garlic thinly sliced
- 100 g young onions roughly chopped
- 5 leaves of kaffir lime leaves roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon palm sugar
- 0.5 teaspoon salt
- 0.5 teaspoon of paprika
- 0.25 teaspoon of ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon of fish sauce
- 0.25 teaspoon black pepper
Glazing
- 1 teaspoon of honey
- 0.5 teaspoon of hoisin sauce
Procédé
- Gather the marinade ingredients
- Put all the marinade ingredients (yes, all of them) in a blender and mix until you get a smooth paste1 stalk lemongrass, 1 clove garlic, 100 g young onions, 5 leaves of kaffir lime leaves, 1 tablespoon palm sugar, 0.5 teaspoon salt, 0.5 teaspoon of paprika, 0.25 teaspoon of ground turmeric, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 0.25 teaspoon black pepper
- Marinate the chicken pieces in a bowl with the marinade for 30 minutes, but ideally overnight.450 g chicken thighs
- Take out of the fridge 30 minutes before grilling
- Soak the bamboo skewers in water for 30 minutes. Remove and dry with paper towels
- Thread the chicken onto the skewers. Protect the wooden ends with aluminum foil
- Preheat your oven on convection setting to the maximum temperature
- Meanwhile, mix the glazing ingredients in a small bowl1 teaspoon of honey, 0.5 teaspoon of hoisin sauce
- For a more flavorful result, you should set up your oven as follows: A grill placed just above a baking sheet, so that the skewers are suspended.
- Cook for 5 minutes
- Remove from the oven and using a kitchen brush, quickly glaze the skewers with the honey and hoisin sauce mixture
- Put back in the oven for 3 to 4 minutes to caramelize the chicken
