Me ga xao sa ot is about the crunch of the gizzards against the smell of lemongrass catching on the pan, with a salty, hot finish. The difficulty is clearing the smell while keeping that crunch, since gizzards turn tough easily.
The gizzards are washed several times with salt and ginger, then parboiled for 5 minutes with more salt and ginger. That parboil clears the smell and firms them up before they reach the pan.
This batch weighs about 663g, at roughly 116 calories per 100g.
Method
Wash the chicken gizzards several times with salt and ginger to clear the smell, then halve them or slice them into bite sized pieces.
Parboil the gizzards for 5 minutes with a little salt and ginger, then lift them out and drain. Mince the lemongrass, slice the chilies and have the shallot and garlic minced and ready.
Heat 20g cooking oil and fry the shallot, garlic and minced lemongrass until fragrant.
Add the gizzards and stir fry over high heat for about 3 to 4 minutes, season with 20ml fish sauce, 5.4g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 2g MSG, 4g seasoning powder and the sliced bird's eye chili, then stir fry for another 5 minutes.
Lower the heat, add 1 to 2 tablespoons water and simmer for a further 3 to 5 minutes so the gizzards take up the seasoning and the lemongrass and chili open up.
Turn the gizzards onto a plate and scatter with rau ram, pepper and shredded chili. Serve hot with white rice.
Tips
Choose gizzards that are fresh and bright with no off smell and the yellow membrane still intact.
Boil the gizzards for 5 minutes with salt and ginger before the stir fry, which clears the smell and keeps them crisp and springy.
Add a tablespoon or two of water for the simmering stage, since a dry pan burns the lemongrass before the gizzards take on flavor.
High heat at the start firms the gizzards, then lower heat through the simmer lets the flavor in.
The finer the lemongrass is minced, the more it comes alive in hot oil.
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The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.