Fried Lemongrass Chicken with Sambal Mayonnaise

Those who are close to me know I am a chicken karaage addict. I love the whole concept of it. It's like eating popcorn chickens: boneless, bite size, no mess.

The love of chicken karaage has inspired me to develop a fried chicken recipe that captures the flavours of Malaysia.

Bite-size chicken pieces, marinated in lemongrass, turmeric, ginger and coconut milk, coated in a mixture of potato and corn flour. Deep-fried until golden brown. The result is a plate full of fragrant fried chicken with perfect crispy crust and extremely tender and moist meat.

I love to squeeze some lime juice (calamasi lime will be perfect if you can get hold of it) on it and dip it in sambal mayonnaise.

To me, this is 'almost' Malaysia on a plate.

Fried Lemongrass Chicken with Sambal Mayonnaise Recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients

500 g chicken thigh fillets, cut into bite size
2 lemongrass, only the white part, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp coconut milk
1 tsp grated ginger
50 g potato flour
50 g cornflour
Oil for deep-fry
1/2 lime (or 1 calamansi lime)

Sambal Mayonnaise:
4 tbsp kewpie mayonnasie (or homemade mayonnaise recipe HERE)
2 tsp sambal belacan (recipe HERE)

Method

1. Whiz chopped lemongrass in a food process until fine.
2. Mix processed lemongrass, turmeric powder, salt, ginger and coconut milk in a medium bowl. Add chicken pieces and marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
3. Mix potato flour and cornflour.
4. Preheat a deep fryer to 180C.
5. Lightly coat the chicken pieces with the flour mix and fry in the deep fryer in batches for 3-4 minutes or until they are golden brown and cooked through.
6. Drain on paper towel. Place fried chicken on a serving plate, squeeze lime juice over it and serve with sambal mayonnaise.
7. To make sambal mayonnaise: Add sambal belacan to mayonnaise and stir to mix well.