A delicious lukewarm Vietnamese bowl with lots of vegetables and meat. If you don’t feel like having noodles, it is also nice to just make rice with this. I do recommend using Pandan rice.
Ingredients:
Chicken and marinade:
600 gr. chicken thigh fillet
1 lemongrass (also called sereh)
2 cloves of garlic
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbs fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs (sunflower) oil
Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese sauce):
1/4 cup fish sauce
4 tbs rice vinegar
2 tbs white sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cloves of garlic
1 red pepper
Juice of 1.5 limes
Also needed:
(Sunflower oil
200 gr. rice noodles
2 small winter carrots, or 1 large winter carrot
1 cucumber
Iceberg lettuce
150 gr. bean sprouts
Handful of mint leaves
Handful of fresh coriander
1 red pepper (for decoration)
possibly lime slices (you will still have half a lime)
Preparation:
Bruise the lime grass and cut it into 3 pieces. Place all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl and mix well. Add the whole chicken thigh fillet. Mix well and store covered. Preferably a whole night but at least 1 hour.
Press the garlic and chop the pepper. Combine all the ingredients for the Nuoc Cham in a bowl. Stir well so that the sugar is completely absorbed. Also set this aside for at least 20 minutes. After those 20 minutes you can taste and always make some adjustments. With lime, sugar or pepper.
Prepare the rice noodles as stated on the packaging.
Cut the cucumber and carrots into narrow strips (julienne). Also chop the mint and coriander a little finely, not too finely, just into strips. Possibly also cut the iceberg lettuce into strips.
Heat a frying pan on the stove. Add a little oil to the pan if you think it’s necessary. I don’t use oil because I have a good non-stick frying pan. Fry the chicken thigh fillet in this, without the lemongrass. Of course on both sides until it is well, but not too, done. Wrap the chicken in foil and set aside (5 minutes).
Divide the noodles among 4 bowls. Add the vegetables and herbs over this.
(Nowadays we eat this with the containers of vegetables on the table so that everyone can choose what and how many vegetables they want. And it also looks very nice with all those containers of vegetables.)
Cut the chicken and divide it among the bowls.
Drizzle at least 4 Tbs of the Nuoc Cham (sauce) over each bowl.
Serve with a slice of lime, if desired. some red pepper rings and the Nuoc Cham next to it.
Enjoy your meal.
