Some Like it Hot

 4 of 5 

Vietnamese chicken

Coriander + chillies = food cravings cured

• 6 lemongrass stalks
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 red chilli, deseeded, chopped
• 500g boneless, skinless chicken thighs in bite-size pieces
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• A pinch of sugar
• 1 handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
• Rice noodles, to serve

1 Remove the really tough outer leaves of the lemongrass and cut off the ends. Roughly slice into rings. You should see a purple band in the rings: stop slicing when there is no more purple and discard the rest – it will be too tough to eat. Give the slices a quick blast in a mini food processor.

2 Stir-fry the lemongrass, garlic and red chilli for 10 seconds in a wok over a high heat. Add the chicken, stir-fry for three to four minutes.

3 Tip in the fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar, and stir-fry for another 30 seconds, then add the coriander. Serve immediately with rice noodles.

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