Lemongrass Chicken Skewers with Special Dipping Sauce

I was working on a project to use chicken as the main protein which is easy to prepare and decided to use one of the recipes found in my book. As I seldom like to copy other bloggers' recipes, I will try to mix and match recipes from books, internet or from cooking shows that I've watch to come out with something. The initial protein used for this recipe was pork but using chicken is just as good.

The recipe from my book does not have any dipping sauce as it was meant for kids' bento. However, I felt that it will be good to add additional flavors to make the dish taste even better. My kids agreed that the dipping sauce did elevate the entire dish to a different level.

Ingredients

500g         Chicken thigh
2 stalks     Lemongrass
4 cloves    Garlic
2 tbsp       Fish sauce
½ tsp        Salt
1½ tbsp    Raw sugar
1 tsp         Cooking oil
1 tbsp       Dark soy sauce
a dash of black pepper
A couple of cilantro with roots (coriander)
Bamboo skewers/ satay sticks

Methods

1. Cut chicken thigh into 1" cubes without skin.
2. Pound lemongrass and garlic with a pestle and mortar into fine paste.
3. Mix the chicken cubes with salt, sugar, fish sauce, dark soy sauce, cilantro (with roots), pepper, pounded paste and cooking oil. Marinate for at least 2 to 4 hours.
4. String marinated chicken cubes with bamboo skewers.
5. Heat grill pan with some oil and grill the chicken skewers till cooked.

Special Dipping Sauce

3 tbsp     Rice vinegar

3 tbsp     Lemon juice

1 tbsp     Fish sauce

3 cloves Garlic (minced)

1             Red chilli (chopped finely)

1             Bird eye chilli (optional for spicier taste)

½ tsp      Salt

1 stalk    Cilantro (chopped finely)

Methods

Mix all ingredients together.