Grilled Lemongrass Chicken with Nuoc Cham and Pickled Carrots

Steps

1. Step 1

   Make the marinade: in a large bowl, stir together the minced lemongrass, shallots, garlic, fish sauce, brown sugar, soy sauce, oil and black pepper. Add the chicken thighs and turn to coat every piece. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, or up to overnight.

   2 hr, hands-off

   • 2 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
   • 3 lemongrass stalks
   • 2 shallots
   • 3 cloves garlic
   • 3 tbsp fish sauce
   • 2 tbsp brown sugar
   • 1 tbsp soy sauce
   • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
   • 1/2 tsp black pepper
2. Step 2

   Make the pickles: whisk the rice vinegar, sugar, warm water and salt in a bowl or jar until the sugar dissolves. Add the carrot and daikon matchsticks, press them under the liquid, and let sit at room temperature at least 30 minutes (or refrigerate up to 1 week).

   30 min, hands-off

   • 2 medium carrots
   • 8 oz daikon radish
   • 1/2 cup rice vinegar
   • 1/4 cup sugar
   • 1/2 cup warm water
   • 1 tsp salt
3. Step 3

   Make the nuoc cham: stir the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and warm water together until the sugar dissolves, then stir in the minced garlic and sliced chilies. Taste — it should be sharp, salty and a little sweet; add a splash more water if it's too strong.

   5 min

   • 1/4 cup fish sauce
   • 1/4 cup lime juice
   • 3 tbsp sugar
   • 1/2 cup warm water
   • 1 clove garlic
   • 1–2 Thai chilies or 1 red jalapeño
4. Step 4

   Cook the rice: combine the rinsed jasmine rice and water in a saucepan with a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and cook 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand, covered, 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

   25 min, hands-off

   • 1 1/2 cups jasmine rice
   • 2 1/4 cups water
5. Step 5

   Heat a grill to medium-high (about 450°F). Scrape the grates clean and oil them lightly. Lift the chicken from the marinade, letting the excess drip off but leaving the bits of lemongrass clinging to the meat.

   10 min · 450°F

6. Step 6

   Grill the thighs 5–6 minutes per side, until deeply caramelized in spots and cooked through (165°F at the thickest part). If the sugar starts to burn, move the pieces to a cooler part of the grill. Rest 5 minutes, then slice into strips.

   13 min

7. Step 7

   Serve the sliced chicken over jasmine rice with a drained handful of the pickles and cucumber alongside. Spoon nuoc cham generously over the chicken and rice, and scatter with cilantro.

   • 1/2 cup cilantro leaves
   • 1 cucumber

Where it’s from

Written by AI from an idea

Version 1, saved Oct 5, 2026