Ian's cooking tonight.

Well, Ian discovered something last night that probably EVERYONE KNOWS….or maybe everyone but me….


Vietnamese cooking.

And this is from Ian............

"I have known that in many cases, the Vietnamese don’t always use the wok in the same way as the Chinese and Thais. I’ve known that they often “part-stew” their chicken dishes in the wok by keeping heat lower and liquid up a bit. This has been a known, but I’ve never bothered to investigate it.

I once saw Luke Nguyen on tellie doing something similar and ignored it.

But I decided to follow the recipe last night of Pauline Nguyen’s Lemon Grass and Chilli Chicken (except for one SMALL addition – the soy sauce). And it was one of the best meals I have EVER cooked!!!!!"



500gm chicken thighs

2 Tablespns fish sauce

1 Tablespn caster sugar

1 lemon grass stem (white part), finely chopped

1 teaspn pickled chilli (I used sambal oelek)

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 Tablespns vegetable oil

1 bird’s eye chilli, sliced (I of course, used 3)

½ small white or red onion, cut into wedges

125 ml chicken stock

1 small handful coriander for garnish.



+ 2 teaspns light soy sauce



Cut chicken into bite sized pieces (approx 3 cm)

Combine fish sauce, sugar, half the lemon grass, pickled chilli and garlic. And soy sauce.

Mix well to dissolve the sugar.

Fold in the chicken through the marinade, cover and refrigerate 4 hrs or o’night.

Place large saucepan or wok over medium heat. Add oil.

Fry remaining lemon grass and chilli until lemon grass starts to brown.

Add chicken. Stir and seal all sides.

Add onion and continue to fry for 2 minutes.

Add chicken stock, cover the pan or wok, reduce heat slightly and cook 5 minutes more.

Remove lid, increase heat and stir until liquid is reduced.

Serve with plain rice and garnish with coriander.



Bloody sensational!!!! Simple but gorgeous.



(other sins: at time of adding onion, I also added ¼ green capsicum, shredded finely.

I also added a tablespoon of finely sliced – shredded – mint leaves right at the very end).



Do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!