Preparation Time
25 minutes + 2 hours marinade time
Serves
4
Nutrition
N/A
Puree
Blend some of the chicken until smooth - add mango for extra sweetness if you want.
Finger Food
For younger toddlers, let him help himself to the different pieces of the salad - older children will be able to roll up their own lettuce wraps.
Ingredients
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For the chicken
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3 lemon grass stalks, white part only, finely chopped
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4 garlic cloves, chopped
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salt and pepper
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1 tsp caster sugar
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1 tbsp fish sauce
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2½ tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
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4 skinless chicken breasts
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For the dipping sauce
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8 garlic cloves
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2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
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2cm root ginger, peeled and grated
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6 tsp caster sugar
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juice of 2 limes
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8 tbsp fish sauce
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For the salad
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1 small, slightly under-ripe mango
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3 carrots, peeled and cut into fine batons
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½ cucumber, cut into fine batons
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100g beansprouts
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Leaves from a small bunch of mint
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Leaves from a small bunch of basil
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125g large lettuce leaves, such as Romaine, washed
With a Vietnamese salad, you take all the separate ingredients and roll them up in a "lettuce wrap". The fresh healthy flavours in this dish are perfect for spring or summer and the whole family will enjoy tucking in
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First marinate the chicken. Using a mortar and pestle or a small food processor, grind the lemon grass and garlic together with some salt and pepper. Now work in the caster sugar, fish sauce and oil. Put the chicken in a bowl and pour over the marinade, turning to make sure everything gets well coated. Cover and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours, or overnight.
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To make the dipping sauce, using a mortar and pestle or small food processor, pound or blitz the garlic, chillies, ginger and sugar together, then add the lime juice and fish sauce. Add 4–5 tbsp of water (according to how strong you want it) and mix well.
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For the salad, peel the mango and cut the ‘cheeks’ off each side. (They are the halves which you can remove by cutting right next to the stone.) Cut the cheeks into slices or batons. Remove the rest of the flesh from the mango and do the same with it. The flesh must be intact and not soft or bruised, so keep any bits which are less than perfect for making a smoothie (or eat them).
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Now, basically, you just provide the array of fruit, vegetables and herbs on a platter. You can either toss the ingredients together (except for the lettuce leaves), or keep them separate and let people pick what they want to add to their plates.
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Heat a griddle pan until hot and take the chicken out of the marinade. Cook each bit on both sides over a medium-high heat at first, and then on a lower heat until the chicken is cooked through, turning it every so often.
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Serve the chicken with the table salad, the dipping sauce and some brown rice on the side. Let your family put their choice of fruit, vegetables, herbs and chicken together, roll them up in a lettuce leaf and dip in the dipping sauce.
This recipe is taken from A Change of Appetite by Diana Henry (Octopus, £25)