Hi guys,
Today I’m going to show you how to make Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken!
I love this recipe because it is so good on top of Jasmine rice or Banh Mi(Vietnamese sandwich) and also I can make with pork, it works perfectly as well!
If you are a vegetarian, no worries, you can make this with fried tofu! Superb!!!
I love my lemongrass chicken to be a bit spicy, because it is perfectly balance with savory and sweet flavor.
But it is totally up to you, if you can’t take spicy, just leave out the chili.
Crispy chicken skin and juicy meat in this recipe is quite important, so if you can, please use chicken thigh with skin on. But doesn’t mean you cannot make with chicken breast with no skin, just remember it will have a bit less flavor than the original recipe.
I show you how to debone chicken thigh on my Teriyaki Chicken, please check out link HERE and watch the video!
Hope you guys give this heavenly delicious lemongrass chicken recipe a try at home!
It is wayyyyyyy too gooooooooood to miss out!
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Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 2 1x
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken thighs, boneless, skin on (Approximately 1 lb.)
- 1/2 Stalk of lemongrass (using only bottom white part)
- 4 Cloves garlic
- 2 Thai chili
- 1 Shallot
- 2 Tbs. cooking oil
For the Sauce
- 2 Tbs. Fish sauce
- 2 Tbs. Sugar
- 1/4 tsp. Black pepper
To Serve with
- Cilantro leaves
- Warm cooked Jasmine rice
- Cucumber slices
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- Cut chicken thighs in bite sizes and set aside.
- Pill first and second layers of lemongrass as needed; thinly slice and very finely chop it. This step is very important for pleasant texture of lemongrass. Set aside.
- Roughly chop garlic and chili and thinly slice shallot. Set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, add all sauce ingredients and whisk until sugar has dissolved. Set aside.
- Heat a wok over high heat and add oil; swirl to coat. Add chicken, skin side down and cook for 5 minutes without touching. This way chicken skin will turn out nice golden brown and crispy. Turn it over and cook additional 1 to 2 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.
- Turn off heat for now and remove excess oil from wok by scooping out with a spoon to another bowl. Leave only 2 Tbs. oil in wok to keep cooking with.
- Turn your stove back to high heat and add lemongrass, garlic, chili and shallot into wok. Stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes or until all the vegetables are soften and you can smell beautiful aroma.
- Add in sauce we made earlier and stir fry until sauce has thicken, chicken’s coated evenly with sauce, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
- Serve with warm cooked Jasmine rice, sliced cucumber, and some fresh cilantro.
Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
38 comments
Hi, I would like to ask if there’s anything I can use to substitute lemongrass? Thanks!
There is not substitute for lemongrass. However, you can use ginger with hint of lime zest for the recipe, that’s probably the closest flavor you can get.
Thanks!
The best lemongrass chicken recipe! We’ve had a lemongrass in our garden for a while and this recipe has been my go to recipe. So easy to make! And sometimes I substitute chicken thighs with breast for a healthier version ?
I have diced lemongrass – it came prepared . How much should be used in this type of recipe?
Approximately 3 Tablespoons. 🙂
Do i have to cook it different if i use chicken wings cut up with bones in?
You can still cook same ways as I showed in this recipe. Just need to be cooked longer since it’s chicken wings. Cook them 5 minutes each side over medium high heat. 🙂
Any substitute for fish sauce?
You can use soy sauce instead, but notice the flavor won’t be the same. 🙂
This was reeeeeally delicious and easy on the eyes. I didn’t taste much of the lemongrass though – next time (which will definitely happen) I’ll double the amount. Thanks for the recipe!
You are hard core for the lemongrass Maren! Yes, add more for your taste, you are the boss in your kitchen! 😀
Delicious and is easy to prepare. It’s a perfect dish eating with rice.
Thank you very much for that recipe. It was just delicious! Far better than another lemongrass chicken recipe I used to make. As I had no chili, I added some freshly pounded clove and star anise and approximately 1/2 cm of grated ginger and galanga … which made the recipe more Thaï than Vietnamese I guess 🙂 However, everything matched perfectly and the result was very subtly flagrant.
Hi what the other thick yellow sauce you added after the mix sauce.
I think you are talking about the chicken fat that I drained from the wok..??
Hi the thick yellow sauce looks to thick to be the chicken fat?
hahaha I know, it looks thick on camera. It is chicken fat though. 🙂
I followed this but I used 1 tbsp of fish sauce and 1 tbsp of sweet thick soy sauce (instead of 2 tbsp of fish sauce). Absolutely love it, thanks for the recipe!!
WOOTWOOT~! Great personal touch!! 😀
Could you please tell me what kind of wok you are using?
The wok and the skillet I use the most(in the video & real life) are T-fal 8inch non stick wok & large nonstick skillet. The wok is Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution line but I haven’t seen for a long time at the market. But you can find similar ones any kitchen stores or online! This is the similar one I could fine! http://amzn.to/23rT92Y
Oh, and RachelRay brand makes similar one with a lid!(http://amzn.to/20rsFw0)
Seonkyoung, this was EXCELLENT! Thank you so much for the recipe. I couldn’t find a Thai chili so I substituted a red hot chili pepper instead. Otherwise, I kept to the recipe. I can’t get over the intense flavor with such few ingredients!
That’s AMAZING Jorden!! So happy you are happy with the result, hope you try more of Asian at Home recipes in the future!! 😀
Hi Seonkyoung!! What kind of sugar do you use?
Hi Holly, I use organic cane sugar.
Can you just use boneless chicken breast instead?
You can if you prefer! 🙂
Can this recipe be doubled?
This was delicious! Thank you! The whole family loved it and want me to make it again! T
This was sooooo delicious! Thank you for this recipe! I can definitely trust all the recipes on your blog <3
Keep doing what you're doing!
Thank you very much for the invitation :). Best wishes.
PS: How are you? I am from France 🙂
Guys, Thanks For sharing this Great Recipe. My Family Loved it. I am definitely sharing this recipe and this website with my friend. Hope they also love it. Thank you again for sharing such a great recipe.
This was just like the lemongrass chicken at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant. It is my husband’s favorite and I have been searching for a good recipe for years. He loved it. Thank you!
Hi,
Could not find Thai chili ,what can I use to replace,and how much? Thanks.?
You can replace it with whatever chili you would like, and the amount you can totally adjust based on how spicy you want the dish to be!
Hello Seonkyoung,
What kind of adjustments would you make for the (firm) tofu version of this recipe? Should I make a marinade or follow the same process as the chicken (i.e. frying it first and then adding the ingredients)?
Thank you!
My family loved this recipe and it’s so easy to make.