Asian Chicken Marinade

I came up with this recipe while installing cabinets in Pacific Heights, an affluent neighborhood in San Francisco.

As we toiled on the splendid, yet infrequently used kitchens that decorate the area, one sound greeted us each day... the sound of the break-time. To us it was the catering truck that blared its horn to trumpet the arrival. In San Francisco many are run by southeast Asians, so the fare is not just doughnuts and ‘dogs. There were spring rolls and plates of chow mein; but most importantly what I treasured were the three boneless chicken thighs, grilled on a skewer in a salty, herbaceous and sweet marinade. Two bucks! My fellow co-workers had a less than gracious name for it, but to me it was inspirational. I had to recreate this so it could be cooked for guests, and my worst critic, me! This is a bit more elaborate than theirs, but hey, that’s normal.

You can use either boned, or bone-in chicken. If you bone the chicken, skewer it; if you use bone-in chicken, grill it indirectly.

4 galanga slices, 1/8" thick, chopped

(or substitute 3 ginger slices)

1 lemongrass stalk, lower 3/4 of stalk, chopped

2 T shallot, or red onion, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 lime, juiced

3 T lt. brown sugar, packed

1 T fish sauce

2 T Golden Mountain sauce, Maggi sauce, or Kikkoman soy sauce

2-3 serranos, seeded and chopped

(or more, or less, or any other pepper you would like)

3-4 # chicken, cut-up

Combine all the ingredients, except the chicken, in a blender (it works so much better than a food processor) and blend until all is smooth.

Pour over chicken parts in a non-reactive container and let sit, covered, in the refrigerator for as long as you can take it (2-12 hours; less time if parts are boned, more time if they are not).

If need be, skewer chicken, and grill until done.