This is an unusual braise: the frog meat stays springy and sweet while the sauce turns silky and smells of lemongrass. The trick is keeping the sauce from splitting, which means medium heat the whole way.
The braising liquid uses 250ml unsweetened oat milk, which softens the smell of the frog and adds a light richness. Before that, the frog marinates for 10 minutes in fish sauce and is seared over high heat to firm up.
This batch weighs about 1.2kg, at roughly 53 calories per 100g.
Method
Clean 6 frogs, about 600g, cut them into bite sized pieces, rinse again in lightly salted water to take away the smell, then drain.
Marinate the frog with 4 tablespoons fish sauce, 2 tablespoons MSG and 1 tablespoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, mix well and rest for about 10 minutes.
Heat a pan and fry 2 cloves of minced garlic until fragrant, then add the marinated frog and toss quickly over high heat until firm.
Add 3 stalks of lemongrass cut into lengths, 2 sliced chilies and 250ml unsweetened oat milk, then stir through.
Pour in 200ml water to cover most of the frog, lower to medium heat, cover and braise for 15 to 20 minutes until the sauce reduces.
Taste, turn off the heat and scatter over a little more finely sliced lemongrass.
Tips
Oat milk softens the smell of the frog and gives the braising liquid a light richness.
Medium heat throughout keeps the milk from splitting into curds.
Searing the frog over high heat before the liquid goes in keeps the pieces firm rather than falling apart.
A little finely sliced lemongrass held back for the end keeps its fresh aroma.
Pour in just enough liquid to come level with the frog rather than cover it, as too much never reduces to a thick sauce.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.