Serves: 6Preparation 20-25 minutes (plus 2 hours marinating time) / Cooking 10 minutes

Mekong Vietnamese in Auckland’s Ponsonby Food Court is one of my favourite casual places to eat – it serves excellent pho, as well as a delicious lemongrass chicken and rice noodle salad. This is my homage to that dish.

600g skinned and boned chicken thighs
4 sticks lemongrass, white part only, thinly sliced (or 2 tablespoons lemongrass paste, or 4 teaspoons freeze-dried powder)
2 shallots, finely chopped
4 teaspoons fish sauce

Put the chicken between 2 layers of plastic wrap and pound with a mallet or rolling pin until the meat is around 4mm-5mm in thickness. Set aside.

Put the lemongrass and shallots in a mortar and grind to a fine paste (or blitz in a food processor). Add the fish sauce and mix well. Smear this paste all over the chicken then marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Heat a lightly oiled grill, hot plate or frying pan over medium heat then cook the chicken for 3-4 minutes each side or until cooked through. Serve with the vermicelli.

Vermicelli salad
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons grated palm sugar (or use brown sugar)
2 red chillies, deseeded, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
150g rice vermicelli
2 carrots, peeled, then peeled into thin slices
1⁄2 iceberg lettuce, thinly shredded
1⁄2 cucumber, deseeded, thinly sliced
1⁄4 cup roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
lime wedges to serve

Bring the vinegar, sugar and 1⁄4 cup water to the boil in a saucepan, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Set aside to cool. Add half the chilli, and the garlic, lime juice and fish sauce then taste and adjust the amount of lime juice and fish sauce if necessary. This is the dressing. Set aside.

Soak the vermicelli in boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain and cool under running water, then drain again. Transfer to a large bowl with the dressing. Add the carrots, lettuce and cucumber and toss to combine.

To serve, divide the vermicelli among bowls. Slice the chicken and put on top then scatter with the peanuts and remaining chilli. Serve with lime wedges.

Wine - A medium-dry pinot gris such as Dashwood Pinot Gris 2013.