Asian Grilled or Baked Chicken

The Asian marinade for meat is a combination of Asian spices, such as lemongrass, garlic, and shallot. This grilled or baked chicken is easy to create using most ingredients that people can easily find in American supermarkets. This recipe is fantastic because it can be cooked on the stove, on the outdoor grill, or baked in the oven. The Vietnamese people use dipping sauce for this recipe when served over rice; the Thai people will serve a cucumber salad on the side. The chicken is good by itself, but I will include the recipes for making the Vietnamese dipping sauce and Thai cucumber salad, as well. 

Ingredients:

3 lbs. chicken thighs, bone in (you can use the skinless and boneless)

The marinade ingredients:

2 stalks lemongrass, white part only and finely chopped

3 green onions, white part only, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced (about 1/4 cup)

2 tbs equal parts fish sauce, soy sauce, and dry sherry cooking wine

1 tsp salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1/4 cup sugar

2 tbs corn syrup or honey

1/3 cup oil

1 fresh chilli, chopped (optional) 

Other ingredients:

Cilantro

Steamed rice

Cucumber salad (see recipe below)

Directions:

Wash and dry the chicken.

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix well. You can place them in a blender and blend well. Adjust the taste to your family’s liking.

In a container with a lid, place the chicken inside and pour the marinade on top. Cover the container with the lid and marinate for at least 3 hours or overnight. 

For outdoor grilling, follow the instructions that come with with your grill.

For the stove top, heat a cast-iron pan. (I prefer the cast-iron pan, but you can use any pan that you have). Add the chicken (skin side down). Cook each side for 4 minutes or until it cooks through. 

For using the oven:

Preheat the oven to 400°.  Cover the baking sheet with aluminum foil (it makes for easy clean up later). Place chicken (skin side up) on the baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, and then turn the chicken over to bake the other side for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.

The marinade sauce remaining can be used to bake the chicken during grilling or baking. For the stove top, pour in the marinade sauce and cook alongside with the chicken halfway through the cooking time.

Sprinkle with chopped cilantro before serving.

To make the cucumber salad, you will need the following: 1 English cucumber, 3 shallots or red onion (about 1 cup), 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1 tsp salt, and 1/4 cup sugar.

Cook vinegar, sugar, and salt until dissolved. Let t cool.

You either can slice, dice, or quarter the cucumber (it is your preference). 

Slice or dice the red onions.

Add the cucumber, red onions, and red pepper flakes to the cool vinegar. Refrigerate at least 20 minutes before serving.

To make Vietnamese dipping sauce, I use the ratio of 1-1-1-2, which means 1 tbs fish sauce, 1 tbs sugar, 1 tbs lemon juice, and 2 tbs water. Ajdust the seasoning to your liking.  You can add 1 minced garlic clove and fresh chili to the dipping sauce.

HINT: when using the stove top or outdoor grilling, place the green part of lemongrass beneath the chicken.