Lemongrass Chicken

A few weeks ago we dropped in to the Coburg Farmers Market, which runs on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month at the Coburg North Primary School. I'd been meaning to go for ages and was looking forward to trying and buying some delicious fresh produce.

We came away with bags of beautiful food and bellies full of delicious treats. There was amazing organic lamb and beef, local artisan chocolate and organic vegetables. Another of these treats was an amazing Lemongrass Paste, made by Under the Pickle Tree. It is a blend of lemongrass, onion, garlic and spices and is absolutely delicious! The recipe suggestion on the jar is to use it to marinate chicken, and that's exactly what I did. It would work fabulously with prawns or a firm fleshed white fish too. In fact, it's so good that you could eat it straight out of the jar on fresh bread!

To go with the Asian flavours of the paste, I thought I'd make a warm noodle salad, of sorts, using vermicelli noodles and some crisp vegies. The chicken was really the hero of the dish with its strong and bold flavours.

 

Lemongrass Chicken and Noodle Salad

2 chicken breasts, chopped into large chunks
2 Tbs Under the Pickle Tree Lemongrass Paste
Olive oil for cooking
100g rice vermicelli noodles
1 carrot, peeled and cut into thin slices
1/2 a bunch of asparagus, woody ends snapped off, cut into 2cm pieces
A handful of snow peas, top and tailed and sliced into thin slices
1/2 a red capsicum, sliced into thin slices
A drizzle each of soy sauce, Kecap Manis and sweet chilli sauce, or to taste
A handful of fresh coriander, chopped

Marinate the chicken in the lemongrass paste for 1 hour in the fridge.
While the chicken is marinating, prepare the noodles and vegies.
Place the noodles in a heatproof bowl.
Cut all vegetables into thin slices and add to the bowl with the noodles.
Pour over boiling water until all the noodles and vegies are covered. Allow to sit for 10 minutes and then drain. Keep warm.
This will blanch the vegies to slightly start the cooking process, but ensure they are still crisp and fresh when you eat them. The noodles should be soft.
Toss the soy sauce, kecap manis and sweet chilli through the noodles, to your taste.
Toss through fresh coriander to serve.

For the chicken, heat a drizzle of olive oil in a frypan over high heat.
Add the chicken and all the marinade and cook until the chicken is browned on the outside, but the middle is cooked. Don't over cook as you still want the meat to be juicy.

Serve the chicken and any pan juices over the top of the noodle salad.

And To Drink....

On a warmish Friday night in Spring, a Sauvignon Blanc was the perfect match to go with the lemongrass chicken. Not just any old sauv blanc, mind you! Claymore are a winery from the Clare Valley in South Australia, who also have vineyards in the Adelaide Hills. They have quirky names for all of their wines, using song or album titles, from U2 to Nirvana! This wine is a blend of fruit from Clare and the Adelaide Hills, which gives it a certain freshness.

Generally I'm not much of a fan of Sauvignon Blanc, particularly the New Zealand variety, which I find a bit too green and full on. I can handle them on a super hot summers day, but don't really want to sip on them with a nice meal. An Adelaide Hills wine, on the other hand is a different story. The wine is still dry, green and acidic, but not so strong. The flavours are a lot more mellow and go much better with food. Think green apple and passionfruit. This one was delicious!

Claymore are definitely worth looking out for, if you can find them. We have bought a number of bottles of their wine (cases in fact!) and have always enjoyed them, particularly the rose and the Riesling. They also make a great range of quaffing and special occasion reds and an interesting sparkling Riesling.