I love lemongrass everything. It’s definitely a staple in Vietnamese cooking. One of my favorite dishes is a lemongrass chicken and lemongrass shrimp vermicelli bowl. I love eating this noodle bowl with veggies and a side of fish sauce dipping sauce.
What is Lemongrass & Where Do I Buy It?
Lemongrass is a tall tropical grass used commonly in cooking in South East Asian cuisines such as Thai and Vietnamese food.
You can purchase it at your local Asian grocery store. You can buy it fresh in the produce aisle or buy it in the frozen aisle. The frozen lemongrass is already grated, which is great especially if you don’t cook with it often. It is called Sa Bam.
How Do I Prepare Lemongrass?
You will need to peel the outer tougher layers of the lemongrass. Cut the ends and finely slice it. Some people mash it before using it, but I generally only do that if I’m using the stalks in a soup like Bo Kho. This video is a great example of how to cut lemongrass.
Assembling your Bowl
Cook your vermicelli according to the package. Add your preferences of vegetables to your vermicelli bowl – carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, bean sprouts, cilantro, green onions, fried shallots, mint, lime. Add some chili peppers for extra spice and definitely add a side of fish sauce dipping sauce (nuoc mam).
If you don’t have vermicelli noodles, you can also eat this with a side of rice!
This recipe is adapted from my MIL’s recipe, Recipe Tin Eats & NY Times.
Lemongrass Chicken
Equipment
- Pan
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breasts
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp lemongrass fresh or frozen
- 2 tbsp shallots
- 3-4 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, green onions, fried shallots optional garnishes
Instructions
- Create marinade: add soy sauce, fish sauce, brown sugar, pepper, and sesame oil and mix together in a bowl.
- Chop up lemongrass, shallots, and garlic finely. Add ingredients to marinade and mix together.
- Slice chicken into thin horizontal pieces or pound gently. Make slight cuts into the meat to allow the marinade to penetrate better.
- Marinade chicken for one hour or overnight if time permits.
- Add 1 tbsp of oil to a pan and fry chicken for about 4-5 minutes until the chicken turns a nice golden brown. Turn over and cook for an additional 2 minutes or until chicken reaches internal temperature of 165 degrees.
- Make vermicelli noodles according to packaging.
- Add lemongrass chicken and shrimp [see recipe below] to noodle bowl.
- Serve with carrots, cucumbers, green onions, and fried shallots. Enjoy with a side of fish sauce dipping sauce.
Lemongrass Shrimp
Equipment
- Pan
- Mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 1 lb shrimp
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp lemongrass
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil or any oil of your choice, sesame, vegetable, etc.
- carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, green onions, fried shallots optional garnishes
Instructions
- Peel and devein the shrimp.
- Create marinade: mix fish sauce, sugar together into a bowl.
- Mince lemongrass and garlic finely. Add to the marinade.
- Add shrimp to marinade and marinate for 30 minutes.
- Fry shrimp in a pan with olive oil for 2 minutes on each side until the shrimp is cooked.
- Add lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, fried shallots with vermicelli noodles or rice.
- Add to your vermicelli bowl & serve with a side of fish sauce dipping sauce!
Hope you enjoy this easy to make lemongrass chicken and lemongrass shrimp vermicelli noodle bowl! Make it your own by adding your preferences of vegetables, use noodles or rice, and add some spice! A fish sauce dipping sauce is a must-have! I’ve also used the same marinade I used for the chicken on pork shoulder, which is also super delicious. Definitely give it a try!
TRY THESE OTHER RECIPES: Mango Sticky Rice, Bun Rieu, and Thai Iced Tea
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1 Comment
[…] out our other Vietnamese recipes – Bun Rieu Noodle Soup or Lemongrass Chicken & Shrimp Noodle […]
December 23, 2020 at 10:51 PM