Lemongrass Chicken

This marinade is fattening, but you aren’t really eating the marinade. Make the night before an emulsion:

I will warn you this is a great, sweet exotic dish that requires the use of fish sauce (nuoc cham). Fish sauce is the most vile smell in the visible universe so I duly instruct people cooking or eating with it to not put your nose in the bottle. It is made from fermented anchovies, but is a vital ingredient in Vietnamese and some Thai food. When properly mixed and cooked, it imparts a great flavor so don’t be scared! I’m giving you this recipe because it is hands-down one of my faves, even if the ingredients are a bit difficult to find (unless you live near an Asian market).

‘Golden Boy’ or ‘Three Crab’ fish sauce (it comes in bottles)
Two stalks of lemongrass
Sugar
Soy
Thai chili peppers (optional)
Sesame oil

Again, eyeball this. Pour ¼ cut of fish sauce in the blender. ½ cup of soy. ½ cup of sugar. Chopped finely the white part of the lemongrass (finely!) and peppers. Buzz once or twice to mix. Taste. It should be balanced between sweet and salty, if not, add more sugar. Keep the blender on and slowly drizzle in the sesame oil, it should emulsify. You’ll put in a total of ½ cup to a cup depending. Taste. It should almost have a peanut buttery taste, good and sweet and NO DETECTION of fish sauce…but it’s on the back of your tongue…Cut your chicken into skewer sized pieces and marinade everything until the next day. Skewer and grill. The chicken should have a sweet, lemongrass exotic taste. If not, you screwed something up along the way and are an abject failure. Hang your head in shame.