Crispy Lemongrass Chicken Vermicelli
Crispy lemongrass chicken cutlets, cucumbers, and spicy pickled veggies, all served in a bowl on top of rice vermicelli! The textures and flavors in this dish are amazing and just what I am craving all the time! Spicy, fresh, and vibrant colors and flavors make this bowl a feast for the eyes and the soul!
The idea for this crispy lemongrass chicken recipe
I was craving a breaded chicken dish with pasta like chicken parm but I wanted it to be lighter, but I was also craving Vietnamese bun vermicelli. I put the two cravings together to create this dish. These are probably two of my favorite foods, so it was fun to put them together.
Start with the pickled veggies
Carrots, radish, serrano and fresno peppers. Then add some vinegar, garlic, sugar, salt, and mirin. Let it sit on the counter for an hour or in the fridge for a few days before using.
Marinate the lemongrass chicken
I marinated the chicken with some fish sauce, lemongrass, sambal, and sugar.
Bread and fry the chicken until crispy
Mix a little of the chicken marinade into the eggs. Then dip the chicken into the flour first, then the eggs, then the breadcrumbs.
Fry the chicken in a pan with a layer of oil on both sides until browned and crispy. Then slice up the crispy lemongrass chicken so it is easy to eat on top of the vermicelli.
Build the crispy lemongrass chicken vermicelli bowl
Put the vermicelli in first, then top with the cucumbers, crispy lemongrass chicken, veggies, and sauce! SO GOOD!
Serving the crispy lemongrass chicken vermicelli bowl
The sauce is a twist on nouc cham but I gave it a slightly spicy honey mustard twist. I did the honey mustard cause I love eating honey mustard with crispy chicken.
This is a dream mashup of all my favorite flavors in a bowl!
Twists on this recipe
There are a lot of ingredients and steps in this crispy lemongrass chicken vermicelli recipe so feel free to take shortcuts! One of my main shortcuts I already use in this recipe is lemongrass paste. The squeeze bottle is so easy to find and easy to use that I often find myself skipping the fresh stuff.
For more on traditional nouc cham, check out this recipe. To make a classic bun vermicelli, I like this recipe.
For more crispy chicken cutlet goodness, check out my double chicken parm, this chicken satay bucatini, or my fried chicken paneer sandwich!
Crispy Lemongrass Chicken Vermicelli
Ingredients
Pickled Veggies
- 3 fresno chilis sliced
- 3 serrano chilis sliced
- 1 large carrot julienne sliced
- 5 radishes julienne sliced
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup mirin
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Cucumbers
- 1 large english cucumber sliced thin
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablspoons honey
- 1/2 teaspoon gochugaru chili flakes
- pinch of salt
Sauce
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- juice of 4 limes
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1/4 cup sambal chili paste
- 1 teaspoon lemongrass paste
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic grated
- 1/4 cup water
Chicken
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoons lemongrass paste
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sambal chili paste
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1.5 cups flour
- 3 eggs
- 1.5 cups panko breadcrumbs
- oil for frying
Bowls
- 8 ounces rice noodles cooked to package instructions
- 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
- 40 min leaves
Instructions
Make the veggies
- Put all the veggies in a ball jar and top with the liquids. Fill with a little water if needed to cover the veggies. Allow to rest for at least 2 hours before using.
Cucumbers
- Mix the cucumbers in a bowl with all the other ingredients. Toss to combine. Cover and store until ready to use.
Sauce
- Mix all the sauce ingredients in a jar and set aside until ready to use.
Chicken
- Slice the chicken in half the wide way so you end up with two thinner pieces of chicken.
- Place parchment paper on a work surface and add one of the chicken slices. Top with more parchment and use a mallet or other kitchen tool to pound the chicken thinner and wider.
- Put the chicken in a bowl and add lemongrass paste, fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce, chili paste, and rice vinegar. Cover and allow to marinate in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Preheat a frying pan to medium high heat and add some oil to the pan so it is about 1/2 inch deep.
- Put the flour in one bowl, eggs in another, and panko in a third. Add a few spoonfuls of the marinade from the chicken into the eggs. Whisk the eggs to combine.
- Dip the chicken into the flour, then into the eggs, and then into the breadcrumbs to coat.
- Fry the chicken in the pan to brown on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a rack to cool.
Build the bowls
- Add the cooked rice noodles to a bowl. Top with cucumbers and pickled veggies. Slice the chicken and add sliced chicken pieces to the bowl. Top with mint, peanuts, and sauce.
There’s a dish almost exactly like this at the Pho/Vietnamese place up the street from me and I get it everytime I go there for lunch. Looks so easy to make. Looks awesome.
This looks great! I always get bored with plain grilled chicken or marinated baked chicken; I will definitely have to try this!
-Katharine
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