Discard the top two thirds of the lemongrass as well as one inch at the bottom; peel off the tough outer layer and then smash with a meat mallet (or something heavy) and cut into 1" pieces that will be easy to remove later
Place the lemongrass in a bowl with the chicken and the rest of the ingredients for the marinade; mix until evenly coated and marinate for at least 2 hours up to overnight (the longer the better!)
To make the the pickled veggies, place the white vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a small pot and bring to a simmer; place the daikon and carrots in a bowl and pour the pickling liquid over; let sit for at least 30 mins
Mix together the ingredients for the nuoc cham sauce and set aside
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and boil vermicelli noodles ~5 mins (or according to package directions) then strain and rinse with cool water; assemble the noodle bowls with vermicelli, romaine, cucumber, mint, and pickled veggies
Preheat a pan over medium high; remove large pieces of lemongrass and shallots from the chicken and drip off excess marinade; add 2 tsp oil and sear chicken
5-6 mins per side (10-12 mins total) until internal temp reaches 165F then remove from the pan
Turn off the heat and add 2 Tbsp avocado oil to the hot pan; char the scallions in the hot pan for 1-2 min, scraping up some of the bits stuck to the pan
Slice the chicken and serve it on top of the noodle bowls with charred scallions, peanuts, and nuoc cham on top; serve with sriracha and enjoy!
40 minute prep time + 2 hour inactive time + 25 minute cook time
Recipe serves 3-4 people
