Oven-roasted Lemongrass Chicken

By popular demand, I'm posting this recipe with preferred ingredients and step-by-step instructions.

Ingredients list:

• 1 tablespoon kosher salt (this can be reduced)

• 4 tablespoons white sugar

• 8 teaspoons fish sauce (~just shy of3 tablespoons)

• 2 tablespoons canola oil (vegetable oil is okay)

• 2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce

• 2 tablespoons minced garlic

• 4 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

• 4 tablespoons minced shallots

• 1 cup lemongrass (minced frozen is easiest)

• 8-10 medium to large bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, or drumsticks, or wings, or whatever

Additional tools:

• Mixing bowl

• Silicone mixing spatula

• Chopping board

• Sharp knife!

• (optional) A chopping tool like this Cuisinart one or a Slapchop can save you some chopping time.

• (optional) Mortar and pestle for fresh lemongrass

• Tablespoon, teaspoon (optional), and 1 cup measurements

• 2x one gallon Zip-Lock bags or alternative for marinating overnight in the refrigerator

I usually start by taking the frozen minced lemongrass out of the freezer and setting it on the counter. Allowing it to defrost a little while you prep the rest of the ingredients will save you a lot of work later when you try to get a cup of lemongrass out of it. Here's the frozen lemongrass I use, which can usually be found at 99 Ranch, but is not always in stock.

For the fish sauce, I use Three Crabs brand and the sweet soy sauce is from Lee Kum Kee.

Add the fish sauce, oil, and sweet soy sauce.

Let's mix it up thoroughly.

The rest of the ingredients require prep.

For the cilantro, I will individually remove all of the stems and only take the leaves for chopping. You can see what I mean here.

When I say finely chopped, I mean finely chopped. An entire bundle from most grocery stores is usually needed for the 4 tablespoons of cilantro in this recipe. Here's what it looks like when I'm done chopping.

Now let's add it to the mixing bowl and mix.

Mince the garlic and the shallots and throw them in the mixing bowl as well.

Tip: This sounds silly, but I wear my air tight swim goggles when cutting onions and shallots. It's extremely effective. Try it. You won't shed a tear or be uncomfortable at all.

Now for the lemongrass. If you're using frozen, it should be easy. Use a metal spoon, watermelon scooper, or whatever else you may have handy to scrape out a cup, then add to the mixing bowl.

If you don't have frozen lemongrass. Use very finely chopped fresh lemongrass, and I mean very finely chopped. If you've never cooked with lemongrass before, you only want to use the lower bulb, do not use the fibrous parts of the stalk.

From finecooking.com: "Though lemongrass stalks measure a foot long or more, almost all of the flavor is contained in the bottom 5 inches or so of the stalk. To get to that flavor, cut away the thinner top portion of the stalk and the very woody base. Then peel away the tougher outer layers to get to the more tender part of the stalk. "

That's what you want to use, the tender part of the stalk, and chop it up very well. A mortar and pestle may be needed to further pulverize the lemongrass into bits. Try to get as close to the next picture as possible. If it's not this fine, the lemongrass bits on your chicken won't look quite the same as the finished product here.

Toss it in and mix it all up very well.

Make sure you get all the stuff off the sides and keep mixing it. Your mix should not be too dry or too soupy. Here's what it should look like.

Get your Zip Lock bags and split the chicken and the sauce between them.

Let as much air as possible out, then manually move the sauce and chicken around until the chicken is thoroughly coated. When you put it in the fridge, make sure to lay the bag flat, do not let the chicken pieces stack on top of each other. See below.

Leave it in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours, but best if you let it marinate overnight.

When ready to cook, leave the chicken out while preheating your oven. Use a metal rack so the drippings do not soak the chicken. This will give you the crispiest skin.

For tastier results, after placing the chicken on the rack, apply the leftover marinade in the bags to the chicken.

Like so.

For our oven, we cook the chicken at 350F for 35 minutes, then turn it over and cook for another 15-20 minutes. Whatever your preference, cook until food safe at 165F for chicken.

And here's what the final result looks like. Good luck and enjoy!