lemongrass chicken + tamago banh mi tacos with five spice mayo
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
By:
Makes: about 4 servings
Ingredients
  • For the Lemongrass Chicken
  • 4-5 large boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • 1 stalk lemongrass
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup sherry or marsala wine
  • 2 T sambal
  • 2 T soy sauce
  • 2 T agave
  • 1½ tsp five spice
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp ginger powder
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • For the Tamago
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 T water
  • 1 T sugar
  • oil for the pan
  • For the Pickled Veggies
  • 2 Persian cucumbers, seeded and finely diced
  • 1 large carrot, finely diced
  • 1-2 T pickled jalapenos, diced (to taste)
  • 2 T pickled jalapeno liquid
  • 2 T rice vinegar
  • 1½ T sugar
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • For the Five Spice Mayo
  • ½ cup good mayo
  • 1 T soy sauce
  • ½ tsp five spice
  • For Serving
  • basil
  • cilantro
  • sriracha or other hot sauce of your choice
  • 10-12 taquito sized corn tortillas (see note)
Instructions
  1. Marinate the Chicken: Pull tough outer stems from lemongrass and trim off woody green tops. Using the back of a knife, thoroughly bruise lemongrass up and down the stalk, rotating it to address all sides. Quarter stalk lengthwise, then chop very finely. Combine chicken with lemongrass and all marinade ingredients and allow to marinate at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
  2. Pickle the Veggies: Right around the time you're marinating your chicken, pickle the veggies by combining all ingredients in a sealed container or zip-top bag. Allow to "pickle" for at least 2 hours or up to two days before serving.
  3. For the Egg: Up to one day in advance of taco time, scramble eggs with water and sugar. Allow to stand several minutes for sugar to dissolve, then scramble again. Heat a little oil in a nonstick skillet and add egg, swirling to cover pan's surface (like making an omelet). Continue swirling any standing egg to edges of hot pan to help it set into one large omelet. (Try not to let egg brown.) When egg is mostly set, clumsily roll it up from one side of pan to the other. Turn omelet out of pan, allow to cool slightly, and dice.
  4. For the Mayo: Combine all ingredients. Bingo bango!
  5. Broil the Chicken: Lift chicken from marinade and arrange on broiler-safe pan. (I like to use a ¼ sheet pan lined with foil.) Discard marinade. Broil chicken for about 10 minutes on one side, or until a nice char begins to develop. Then flip and broil for just a couple minutes longer, or until chicken is cooked through. For an extra crisp finish, flip chicken back to the first side for one more minute. Allow to rest 10 mins before roughly chopping.
  6. Assemble the Tacos: Warm tortillas on a griddle or in the microwave for a few seconds (loosely covered with a damp paper towel to prevent them from drying out). Top each tortilla with a smear of mayo, chicken, tamago, pickled veggies and herbs. Top with more mayo and sriracha, if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
Cook time does not include the passive time during which the chicken marinates and the veggies pickle, but if you prep everything the day before, it's really as simple as broiling the chicken and bringing it all together. Oh yes, and I like my tacos in the style of street, so I choose the smallest little corn tortillas I can find (usually labeled taquito size, available at almost every Mexican grocery story in these parts), but any corn or even flour tortilla will do. Bigger torts will just result in bigger (but fewer) tacos.

*Gluten-Free Mod: use wheat-free tamari in the mayo and the marinade and choose gluten-free torts. Easy!
Recipe by the pig & quill at https://thepigandquill.com/charbroiled-lemongrass-chicken-tamago-banh-mi-tacos-with-five-spice-mayo/