Vietnamese BBQ: Lemongrass Marinade and the Chicken Skewers
Every culture has some form of street food. The United States has hot dogs and pretzels. Vietnam has a whole culinary dictionary of street delights. One of the most common snack is meat skewer marinated in fragrant lemongrass and fish sauce grilled over these tiny aluminum boxes filled with flaming coals on a hidden alley somewhere. These grilled skewers became a staple of Vietnamese restaurants in the US and worldwide. Every family has a marinade recipe of the same ingredients but in different proportions. This is our family’s recipe that we serve at the restaurants and at home over the years. The trick to this recipe is to marinate the meat overnight. We tried it with just ½ an hour and it was still delicious. I highly suggest marinating these overnight and even leaving them in the freezer during the week until you are ready to consume them. We grilled these chicken skewers over a traditional Vietnamese charcoal box, but you can easily do this on any grill or on the stove. The combination of …
