Have you tried resisting a food because you don’t like how it smells?
I am sorry that I dislike some food because of their smell. Also, there are ingredients I don’t like using just because I don’t like the smell. Somehow, when I started baking and blogging, I started to explore… one at a time.
One of the things I dislike is fish sauce. However, there are mouth-watering foods you could see all over Instagram (WordPress as well) that use fish sauce. I never tried making those. I saw a photo of a dipping sauce that goes well with fried fish; I asked my friend how she made the sauce. When I read the text fish sauce I wanted to tell her Okay, forget that I asked.
Of course, I did not say that.
Instead, I told her that I don’t like how fish sauce smells. She said ‘Yeah, I don’t even like how it smells, but it tastes good.’ Okay, she has convinced me at that moment. Still, I never bought fish sauce. One time in a grocery store, my friend caught me staring at the bottle of fish sauce and she told me to buy it so I can try. And finally, I did.
The bottle of fish sauce stayed inside the cupboard for months. 😀 I discarded all the recipes I found with fish sauce… sorry.
But one night, before I went to sleep, I’ve come across this video –
Okay, so who wouldn’t be convinced? I did not have second thoughts – I really wanted to try this dish. One thing came up – I never cooked anything curry except my favorite curry… for how many long years. I thought maybe this is the right time to bend my usage of curry powder.
Chili and Lemongrass Chicken
- 2 lemongrass stalks, finely chopped
- 1 red chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 300 g chicken thigh, bone-in or deboned
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 100 ml chicken stock
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Freshly squeezed lemon/lime juice, to drizzle (optional)
Instructions:
- In a bowl, mix lemongrass, chili, garlic and fish sauce.
- In another bowl, place the chicken and half of the above mixture. Cover and keep in the fridge for at least 20 minutes. Reserve the rest of the lemongrass mixture.
- In a non-stick pan with medium-high heat, add the reserved lemongrass mixture and curry powder. Cook for a minute until fragrant.
- Add in marinated chicken and cook for about 4-5 minutes.
- Add chicken stock and coconut milk. Simmer for about 5 minutes on low heat or until the sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve with white rice and garnish with spring onions if desired. Drizzle with lemon/lime juice, if using.
Source recipe: Chili and Lemongrass Chicken by Donal Skehan
The fish sauce smell was all over the house and while cooking, I convinced myself that this will be a good dish. And you know me… I don’t really stick to recipes when it comes to cooking (I mean, who does?) so I added a little bit of coconut milk. And it tastes just amazing as Chicken Curry.
And oh, I drizzled lemon all over my meal and it was awesome. 😀
I am taking this at Fiesta Friday hosted by the ever-amazing Angie @ The Novice Gardener …also at Foodie Fridays, Sweet and Savoury Sundays.
I hope you enjoy this. Happy weekend. Happy Fiesta Friday. Happy Foodie Fridays. 😉
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