food 4 tots

Lemongrass chicken

lemongrass chicken, lemongrass, chicken, thai cooking, vietnamese cooking, tumeric, paprika, food for toddlers, toddlers, kids, recipes, healthy, Cymbopogon

Lemongrass (香茅) is a popular herb used in many Asian cooking, especially for Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Indonesian cuisines. It has a refreshing citrus flavour with a hint of ginger. It blends very well with garlic, chillies and cilantro, hence is widely used in making soup, curries, marinade and stir-fry dishes. It is also used to flavour tea, drinks, baked goods, desserts and pastries. Essential oil extracted from lemongrass is an excellent natural mosquito repellent. The oil is also used for making other non-food related products like candles, perfumes, soap, insecticide, disinfectant, household cleaner and deodorant. Apart from its aromatic scent, lemongrass is known to provide numerous health benefits, such as:

  • coping with cold, cough and fever;
  • relieving insomnia and stress;
  • detoxifying liver, pancreas, kidney, bladder and digestive tract;
  • improving digestive system;
  • improving blood circulation;
  • coping with excessive fats in body;
  • dealing with menstrual problems; and
  • coping with acne and pimples

 

Don’t you think lemongrass is such a wondrous herb to be added to our diet?

 

lemongrass chicken, lemongrass, chicken, thai cooking, vietnamese cooking, tumeric, paprika, food for toddlers, toddlers, kids, recipes, healthy, Cymbopogon

 

Lemongrass is an ingredient I always want to try cooking for my family. But, to my disappointment, most of the recipes using lemongrass are spicy, hence not ideal for toddlers. When I chanced upon a Vietnamese lemongrass chicken recipe in Rasa Malaysia’s blog, I loved the simplicity of the recipe. It was easy-to-follow and did not require many ingredients. To make it a more kids-friendly version, I gave the recipe a tweak by substituting the curry powder with both turmeric powder and paprika. (Did I ever mention that turmeric powder is my favourite spice? It is another great spice that has many health benefits too. One example is curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, is known as an anti-inflammatory agent. If you want to learn more about the health benefits of turmeric, please refer to this link . )

 

When making the caramelized sugar, be sure to watch it closely. Once the sugar is dissolved and begins to darken, it will start to boil very quickly. Don’t panic if your caramelized sugar has hardened after cooling off. There is way to “rescue” it. You just have to reheat the pan slowly to re-liquify the caramelized sugar.

 

Even with my modified version, the recipe didn’t lose its shine. My family enjoyed it very much as it tasted fabulous!!! When I was stir-frying the dish, my son was so intrigued with the distinctive aroma of lemongrass that filled the kitchen. The lemongrass adds a wonderful fragrant and citrus flavour to the dish. The marinade chicken is richly flavoured by garlic and spices. The taste is also further enhanced by the perfect sweet and salty combination of fish sauce and caramel sauce. It’s really another recommended stir-fry dish that pairs well with steamed warm rice.

 

>>> Click on PAGE 2 BELOW for Lemongrass Chicken Recipe..…………………………

 

lemongrass, lemon grass, chicken, thai cooking, vietnamese cooking, tumeric, paprika, food for toddlers, toddlers, kids, recipes, healthy, Cymbopogon

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58 Comments

  1. so gorgeous! 🙂

  2. j3ss kitch3n says:

    this is so refreshingly delicious! yummy!

  3. I don’t eat chicken but the flavors sound delicious and I love the presentation with the cucumber slices.

  4. nammi says:

    yumm, love the taste and smell of lemon grass, have a nice day, hope you are doing well 🙂

  5. Wendy says:

    I have a jar of coarsely cut dry lemongrass from a Thai market. Any idea of how many teaspoon or tablespoon will be the equivalent of one stalk of inner white bulb?

  6. Chris says:

    Just finished my lunch – looking at this I think I can have another bowl of rice.

  7. Love the unique scent that lemongrass brings to so many dishes! Thank for sharing this yummy chicken recipe…can’t wait to give this a try myself!

  8. Mika says:

    Oh my, this looks great!!!
    I bought lemongrass fer weeks ago and it is still there because I have no idea how to use it…
    I can make a vegetarian version of this with mushrooms…it seems too delicious to skip it…

  9. Alice says:

    Bravo! You finally got it right! Lemongrass chicken is one of favourite too! This must be mouth-watering… 😀

  10. Anncoo says:

    Turmeric and lemongrass are my favorite and this chicken dish looks so delicious and flavorful.

  11. Joanne says:

    I love the fresh flavor of lemongrass but I’ve never actually cooked with it myself before! This chicken has a beautiful color on it…what a great dish!

  12. tigerfish says:

    I love lemongrass too! I think I still have 2 stalks in the freezer. You reminded me of a coriander chicken dish that uses lemongrass – have not cooked it for a long time.

    Turmeric is my fav. spice as well. I add it in many dishes including chicken soup.

  13. peachkins says:

    I love lemongrass! I think it gives a wonderful flavor!

  14. Joyti says:

    And it looks delicious too.
    Your photographs are so beautiful!

  15. Your presentation is flawless!

  16. Ching @ LCOM says:

    Lovely! With all the benefits, I need to eat more lemongrass.

  17. Love your plating! It’s hard to find a lemongrass recipe without chili, this sounds great!

  18. mycookinghut says:

    I love lemongrass and I think it goes really well with meat and poultry.

  19. Little Inbox says:

    The lemon grass make the dish tastes fantastic.

  20. Wendy says:

    Thank you.

  21. noobcook says:

    I adore lemongrass. The aroma is incredible and it keeps well in the fridge. Your dish looks fantastic!

  22. Mei Ling says:

    Is the “1 tbsp water + 2 tbsp water” in seasoning (2) “1 tbsp water + 2 tbsp hot water”?

    • food-4tots says:

      Mei Ling: Sorry for the confusion. It should be 2 tbsp hot water. The reason for using hot water is to avoid the caramelised sugar to harden. Happy trying! 😉

  23. That lemongrass chicken is looking good!

  24. evelyn says:

    My son is taking tumeric quite well after trying out the pilaf receipe. And has been asking for yellow rice instead of the white one. I shall try this lemongrass chicken. Looks and smells good! Will the sugar burnt in seasoning 2?

    • food-4tots says:

      Evelyn: That’s great to know that he loves yellow rice. I also have the inclination to yellow rice too. Hehehe! No, it won’t if you follow my steps carefully. Happy trying! Hope it suits your son’s palate.

  25. evelyn says:

    I cooked today. Taste like satay? Not too bad though:P Probably I replaced caramelised sugar with honey instead because former has bitter taste. When the sugar began to turn amber in color, it darken (blackish brown) quickly. And it sizzled when I add the hot water. Can you advise if it is correct?

    • food-4tots says:

      Evelyn: Yeah, the chicken does taste a bit like satay. If the caramelised sugar is blackish brown and tastes bitter, then you may have overcooked it. Yes, it will sizzle if the caramelised sugar is too hot. There are two ways to rectify this problem. First, get a small saucepan with 10cm diameter. Second, maintain a reasonable distance between the heat and the pan, not too far or too close. Keep a close watch on the mixture. For your case, remove the pan immediately from the heat once the colour starts to turn light amber brown in colour. Try to make the caramelised sugar at your free time until you have perfected the skill. It took me a few attempts to get it right. Happy trying! Hope to hear from you again. 😉

  26. evelyn says:

    Thanks for your advice. I will try again. Have a nice weekend! 🙂

  27. Priyanka says:

    Sounds awesome and your pictures make it look more delicious! Will try this for dinner tonight. 🙂

  28. […] chance to use it in any of my recipes. Then suddenly I landed on this lemongrass chicken recipe at Food-4tots through Foodgawker and immediately decided to make it for dinner. As you might know this already, […]

  29. Dash Riprock says:

    Why do we make all that carmelized sugar and then use 2 tsp to coat the chicken? Is there a use for the rest of it?

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