We got this delicious recipe from our friend who's parents own a Thai restaurant. He was in the kitchen of the restaurant experimenting one day and came up with this delicious concoction. It is now one of our weekly favorites! It is super simple and amazingly flavorful. You start out with a basic Pad Thai sauce - buy a jar or make your own - it's so easy! The recipe is included below. All it takes is one trip to the Oriental market for Tamarind paste and fish sauce if you don't have any on hand. And don't worry, they will keep for a long time in your fridge, so don't be afraid to make this one-time purchase. Add some fresh ginger, lemongrass, coconut milk, nuts, and voila! A super easy, delicious, Thai dinner at home. :)
Lemongrass Chicken
Serves 4
1 jar pad thai sauce (or homemade - recipe below)
1-2 lbs chicken breast or thighs cut in thin strips or chunks
1 stalk of lemongrass (or 3 drops lemongrass essential oil)
1 inch or so of a ginger root (or 2 drops ginger essential oil)
1/4 C coconut milk
1/2 C almonds or cashews
red pepper flakes - optional to add some heat
jasmine rice cooked
Cut the lemongrass into 1-1.5 inch pieces. Peel the ginger root and slice thinly.
Heat some coconut oil over med heat and add chicken. Then add the pad thai sauce and coconut milk and stir. Next add lemongrass, ginger and almonds.
Stir frequently to get the flavors blended.
Serve over jasmine rice and Voila!
Pad Thai Sauce
1- 1.5 TBSP tamarind paste
1/4 C chicken stock
3 TBSP fish sauce
1 TBSP soy sauce (I always use "Bragg Liquid Aminos" which is basically soy sauce but way healthier and non-GMO...soy is one of the most GMO'd ingredients.)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper or chili sauce
3-4 TBSP brown sugar (I substituted some of it with honey)
Mix it all together in a bowl. I doubled it and saved half for the next time I make this dinner (which, like I said is every week). Or you can just use more and have more sauce. It's not as thick as the bottled sauce, so you could add some rice flour to thicken it up too if you want.
