Lemongrass tea-poached chicken

Simple and flavorful poached chicken has many uses. Nestle it between bread for a sandwich, on top of a mixed green salad, or use it to make a chicken salad for a picnic. 

|
The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook
What to do with lemongrass tops? Try adding them to the water when you poach chicken.

Several recipes I learned while writing "The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook" are still in my everyday cooking repertoire. Mochiko Fried Chicken, Japanese-Style Hamburgers, and Deep-Fried Tofu Simmered with Tomatoes, just to name a few.

And an all-time favorite – Caramelized Chicken with Lemongrass and Chilies.

Seemingly simple at first, this is one recipe that takes practice to perfect. Over the years, I’ve managed to improve the final outcome bit by bit.

I confidently caramelized the sugar to the point where it turns a rich mahogany and hovers on the bittersweet, and doesn’t burn. I know that the quality of the chicken is very very important to this dish. The chicken has to be fresh and definitely not plumped up with water. The extra liquid released during cooking turns the chicken pieces into mush, far from the nicely bronzed outcome you want. Now, I can make this dish with my eyes closed (well, almost!) and it turns out delicious every time.

But I am always left with one conundrum: what to do with the lemongrass tops?  I’ve tossed the tops into a pot with tea. I’ve made lemongrass vinegar. And then it came to me: Why not poached chicken? It would make an excellent addition to a mixed green salad, my Harvest Rice Salad, or for a summery chicken salad for your next picnic.

The chicken turned out soft and tender, and was imbued with a delightful lemony scent and flavor. The remaining stock was so fragrant I was almost tempted to stick my head over the pot and breathe in the aromatherapy “fumes!”  I decided to save it for another dish instead.

Lemongrass tea-poached chicken
I used boneless chicken thighs for this method (I wouldn’t even call it a recipe!) because that’s what I always eat but you can use breasts, too, if you prefer. You can put the tea leaves into a cheesecloth sachet but I find that the tea leaves can be easily scraped off.

If you only have tea bags, use one tea bag and remove it once the water comes to a boil, unless you want a stronger tea flavor. Try adding other complementary herbs to the mix like Thai basil, ginger, or green onions.

Time: 20 minutes

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon good quality loose-leaf black or green tea

Tops from 3 to 4 stalks of lemongrass

3 smallish boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 3/4 pound)

1. Fill a heavy (2-quart) pot about halfway full with water, just enough to cover the chicken pieces. Add the salt, tea, and lemongrass tops, and bring to a boil.

2. Add the chicken and bring it back to a simmer. Turn off the heat, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and remove the pot from the stove (important if you have an electric stove). Let sit for about 15 minutes (thicker pieces may take longer) or until the chicken is no longer pink inside (cut into a piece to check). If it is, put the lid back on and wait another 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Let the chicken cool a little then put it in the fridge overnight to cool completely. Remove the chicken from the liquid and shred with two forks or cut into slices.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Lemongrass tea-poached chicken
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Food/Stir-It-Up/2013/0625/Lemongrass-tea-poached-chicken
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe