Air fried lemongrass chicken banh mi

Yes, the chicken has to be cooked so this recipe isn’t just about assembling a sandwich. And before the chicken can be cooked, it has to marinate for a sufficient amount of time to make sure that even the innermost portions of the meat are properly seasoned.

In relation to marinating, what does “sufficient amount of time” mean? The length of the marinating time depends on the cut of chicken you use and the thickness of the meat. Using bone-in chicken? Marinating time will be shorter if you use fillets. BUT.

Here’s a big but. Since you don’t need to do any additional work while the chicken marinates anyway, why not opt for bone-inch chicken with a longer marinating time? The meat of bone-in chicken, especially bone-in thighs, is so delectably moist after air-frying. It’s just hard to replicate that when using fillets.

But I know that time is valuable too, so, in the end, it really is your choice whether to go bone-in or boneless.

Now, the marinade for the chicken.

It’s the same marinade I use when cooking lemongrass pork — a mixture of minced garlic and lemongrass, grated shallot, ground black pepper, brown sugar, and equal amounts of light soy sauce, fish sauce and coconut oil.

Marinate the chicken for a few hours or overnight depending on the thickness of the meat. Air fry at 180C. For how long again depends on the thickness of the meat and whether you’re cooking bone-in or boneless chicken.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and cool for about five minutes to allow the juices to settle into the meat. Using two forks, break up the meat into chunks. Oh, please do not shred the chicken. That’s the fastest way to lose its natural juices which you want to seep into the bread instead of getting left behind on the cutting board.

Then, you assemble your lemongrass chicken banh mi.

Have all your condiments ready.

These are the traditional condiments for Saigonese banh mi. Up north in Hanoi, there are less. But since we like Saigonese banh mi more, we add all the things that make it so good. Liver pate, mayo, pickled carrot and radish, chili and lime salt, chili sauce, cucumber, cilantro and liquid seasoning. Maggi is preferred in Vietnam but we like Knorr better here at home. NOT a sponsored post.

Ideally, the pickled carrot and radish should be prepared several hours or even a day ahead and kept in the fridge to allow the vegetables to soak up the flavors of the pickling solution. Prep it before you mix the chicken with the marinade ingredients so that they can all soak in the fridge at the same time.

So, toast your baguette, split, and spread mayo and liver pate on either side. Then, make a bed of cucumber on one half of the bread.

Pile your air fried lemongrass chicken on top of the cucumbers, top the chicken with pickled carrot and radish, then add chili and lime salt, and drizzle seasoning and chili sauce. Finish off with cilantro and it’s ready to be enjoyed.