2013 Smack Down - Vietnamese Lemon Grass Chicken Wraps (Erin and Rob)

Lemongrass Chicken
From Howie Chan and Alison Markowitz-Chan
Makes 6 servings

This was also early enough in the night that Erin Fuller was still taking photos!



Ingredients:
1.5 pounds boned chicken thighs

Marinade:
4 cloves garlic, peeled
3 shallots, trimmed and peeled
1 stalk lemon grass, tough outer husks removed, ends trimmed, cut into 1.5 inch lengths
2 tablespoons rice wine or sake
1.5 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon canola oil (or other light flavor oil)

Vietnamese dressing:
1 teaspoon crushed dried red chilies or dried chili flakes
juice of 5 limes
1.5 tablespoons minced garlic
.25 cup sugar
5 tablespoons fish sauce, or to taste

for wraps:
lettuce leaves, sturdy but flexible (we like butter lettuce)
vermicelli rice noodles
carrots
mint
lime
coarsely chopped dry roasted peanuts

Preparations:
Drop the ingredients of the marinade, in descending order, through the feed tube of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, while the machine is running, and process to a fine paste. (we are never so cautious, but it is key to get the lemon grass as finely processed as possible.)

After trimming away any fat, put the chicken into a bowl. Add the marinade, mix with your hands to coat. Cover and let stand at room temp for 2 hours.

Preheat the broiler. Arrange the chicken 3 inches from heat source and cook about 8 to 10 minutes per side. Remove, let cool slightly, and cut them into thin slices.

To prepare the Vietnamese dressing, soak the crushed red chilies or flakes in the lime juice for several minutes. Add garlic, sugar, fish sauce and stir to dissolve the sugar. (Obv leave out chili for a non-spicy version, you can adjust taste if necessary.

Soak the vermicelli in luke warm (not hot) water until soft. Then boil the vermicelli for about 2-3 minutes. Rinse under cold water, make sure all noodles are separated (rinse in cold water until un-stuck) and drain.

Wrapping instructions:
We watched the Vietnamese make the wraps by first holding the lettuce leaf between the palm and thumb. Then they would pluck the fresh herbs and hold them under the thumb.  Then you are ready for the noodles, not too much, and chicken on top. Drizzle with sauce, wrap up and enjoy!

Serve everything room temperature with hot chicken. Its best freshly cooked, as the fish sauce in the marinade can get a bit funky smelling when reheating.  Fish sauce in general is delicious, but gets funky with time. We made the dipping sauce a day ahead of time, but added the fish sauce a few hours before serving.