Vietnamese Spicy Lemongrass Chicken

I‘m really in de mood for anything spicy at this moment. Poor Dunster.. Having to have a spicy dinner every other day but I can’t help myself. Anyways, it’s really another cuisine all together coz this time, it’s Vietnamese-spicy. Vietnamese seems to like lemongrass in their food. Almost every time I search for a Vietnamese recipe, it’s almost always with chillies and lemongrass as part of their main ingredients.

Ingredients:

600g chicken thighs, deboned and cut into large pieces
2-3 tbsp spicy lemongrass paste (see recipe below)
1 tbsp curry powder
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce or light soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp palm sugar
125ml water
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Preparation:

Marinate chicken with the lemongrass paste and curry powder for 30 mins or more.
Heat a wok or deep pan with oil on medium heat. After a min, add in onions and fry for abt 1-2 mins.
Then add in marinated chicken and cook for abt 10 mins, stirring occasionally so that the chicken can cook evenly and doesn’t stick to wok or pan.
Then add in water, fish sauce or light soy sauce, salt and sugar and stir to mix with chicken.
Simmer on low heat for abt 15 mins, till chicken is thoroughly cooked and liquid has reduced and slightly thickened.
Serve immediately with some vegetables and steamed white rice or noodles.

Ingredients and preparation for the Spicy Lemongrass paste:

5 fresh lemongrass
25 dried chillies, remove some seeds for less spiciness and soaked in warm water for 30 mins
3.5cm fresh ginger root
8 garlic cloves
100ml vegetable oil

Remove outer layer (and dried) layer of lemongrass, using only the white part, slice thinly.
Cut soaked dried chillies, ginger and garlic into smaller pieces.
Blend or grind all ingredients including oil into a coarse paste. (Oil’s added to make blending or grinding easier.)