This is a handy recipe passed to my mother many years ago, perhaps it was even a little ahead of its time in Ireland it was that long ago. Although I love satay chicken skewers, this is a nice change with the lemongrass giving its signature Asian-style flavour. If you’d prefer to keep it even more simple, use standard skewers and chop the lemongrass finely into the marinade.
4 chicken breast fillets, cubed
8 lemongrass stalks
The marinade
1 tbsp honey
4 crushed garlic cloves
1 inch piece of root ginger, chopped
2 green chillies, chopped finely
juice of 2 limes and zest of 1 lime
4 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
pinch of turmeric
Spear the lemongrass stalks through the cubed chicken and marinate for 8 hours – 2 days. After removing from the marinade, grill until cooked through and serve simple with a slice of lemon.
The wine match
Balance is the basic consideration when pairing wine with Asian-style food. As a rule, wine with heavy alcohol or tannins will block the delicate flavours of most Asian dishes. Good bets for this dish, considering there’s a little kick off the chillies, would be a German Riesling or a Muscadet from the Loire Valley in France. Apart from anything else I reckon these would work well with the lemongrass element.
The Lingenfelder Riesling and Domaine les Grands Presbyteres Muscadet would be ideal, but if you follow the basic rule of not overpowering you won’t go too far wrong. Even a light red could do a good job.
Comments are closed.