Stir-Fried Chicken with Chilies and Lemon Grass

Recipes: (Serves 4)

15 ml / 1 tablespoon sugar
30 ml / 2 tablespoon sesame or groundnut (peanut) oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2-3 green or red chilies, seeded and finely chopped
2 lemon grass stalks (white part only), finely sliced
1 onion, finely sliced
350 g / 12 oz skinless chicken breast fillets, cut into bite-size strips
30 ml / 2 tablespoons soy sauce
15 ml / 1 tablespoon nuoc mam
1 bunch fresh coriander (cilantro), stalks removed, leaves chopped
Salt and ground black pepper
Nuoc Cham, to serve

Method:
1. To make a caramel sauce, put the sugar into a pan with 5 ml/1 teaspoon water. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved and turned golden. Set aside.

2. Heat a large wok or heavy pan and add the sesame or groundnut oil. Stir in the chopped garlic, chilies and lemon grass, and stir-fry until they become fragrant and golden. Add the onion and stir-fry for 1 minute, then add the chicken strips.

3. When the chicken is cooked through, add the soy sauce, nuoc mam and caramel sauce. Stir to mix and heat through, then season with a little salt and pepper. Toss the coriander into the chicken and serve with nuoc cham to drizzle over it.

To Prepare Nuoc Cham

There are many versions of this popular chili dipping sauce, varying in degrees of sweet, sour and chili. Some people add rice vinegar to the mix. Depending on the amount of liquid added, this recipe makes about 200 ml/7 fl oz/scant 1 cup, which is plenty for all the dishes. If you don't use it all in one sitting, it will keep well in the refrigerator for about two weeks. If you are doing a lot of Vietnamese cooking, it is an extremely handy sauce to have ready-made in quantity.

Recipes:

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
2 red Thai chilies, seeded and roughly chopped
15-20 ml/3-4 teaspoon sugar
Juice of 1 lime
60 ml/4 tablespoons nuoc mam (See below)

Method:

Using a mortar and pestle, pound the garlic with the chilies and sugar and grind to make a paste. Squeeze in the lime juice, add the nuoc mam and then stir in 60-75 ml/4-5 tablespoons water, according to taste. Blend well.

Nuoc Mam

The principal ingredient that is quintessentially Vietnamese is nuoc mam, which is a fermented fish sauce with a pungent smell. It is a condiment that most Vietnamese can't do without as it is splashed into practically every soup, stir-fry and marinade, as well as serving as a standard dipping sauce.

To make nuoc mam, small, silver anchovies are layered with salt and left to ferment in barrels for about three months; the liquid gathered in the base is then drained off and poured back over the fish to ferment for a further three months. The liquid, which by this time is extremely pungent, is then drained and strained into bottles where it is left to mature even further. This sit the first pressing, which is of high quality, and is generally used as a table condiment. The second and third pressings are less pungent and are used for cooking.

Bottles are available in most Asian stores. Look for a rich, dark color with the words ngon or thuong hang on the label as these indicate a superior quality.