Jeremy Sry · Cambodian street food, rebuilt លតឆា

LeanLort Cha

Name: Lean Lort Cha
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Cambodian
Ingredients: 1.5 lb chicken breast (about 680 g), sliced thin; 3 Tbsp fish sauce; 2 Tbsp dark soy sauce (not regular soy: thicker, less salty, slightly sweet); 1 tsp brown sugar; 1.5 tsp lemongrass paste; 1.5 tsp minced garlic; ¼ tsp black pepper; 15 oz dry rice noodles (Pure Rice Noodles or any 14 to 16 oz package); 4 Tbsp sweet soy sauce (kecap manis, ABC or Bango brand); 2 tsp fish sauce; 2 tsp neutral oil; 2 cups bean sprouts; 2 cups Chinese broccoli (gai lan) or bok choy; 3 stalks green onion, sliced; 2 Tbsp fish sauce; 2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce (not regular soy); 1 Tbsp lime juice; 1 tsp brown sugar; cooking spray; Optional soft-boiled or fried egg, cilantro, sriracha or sweet chili sauce, fresh lime

Charred sweet soy noodles and air-fried lemongrass chicken. All the street-stall wok hei, none of the grease hangover.

CambodianAir fryerMeal prep x449 g protein

4Meal preps

15Min hands-on

35Min total

About 15 minutes of hands-on work, including a 10-minute marinade; 35 minutes from start to sealed containers.

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The story

The taste of lort cha from the street stalls in Cambodia is one I'll never forget. The sizzling wok, the fried egg, the incredible flavor, and the inevitable grease coma afterward.

I wanted that same smoky wok hei, built for the body I have today. So I re-engineered it: lemongrass chicken crisped in the air fryer instead of swimming in oil, noodles charred hard in a hot pan, and enough for four days of meal prep.

Lort are the short rice pin noodles, also called silver needle noodles, and cha means stir-fry in Khmer. It's a Cambodian-Chinese street classic, and the BBC named it one of the 50 best street foods in Asia. Street stalls use pin noodles; this version uses a regular package of rice noodles you can find almost anywhere.

We're keeping all the soul of the dish but ditching the grease hangover.

Jeremy Sry smiling with a handful of marinated lemongrass chicken

Jeremy Sry smiling as he plates lort cha from the pan into a meal prep container

Jeremy in the kitchen · More on Instagram @jeremysry

How it fits together

Three sauces,
one hot pan.

The marinade

Fish sauce, dark soy and lemongrass. Seasons the chicken all the way through.

The sweet soy

Kecap manis on the noodles. It's what caramelizes into that street-stall char.

The finisher

Fish sauce, low-sodium soy, lime and a little sugar. Ties it all together at the end.

How to make it

Method

Cook the noodles

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil on high. Add the noodles, stir right away and cook for 4 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water for 10 seconds and shake off as much water as you can. Set them aside plain for now.
Marinate the chicken, mix the sauces

Slice the chicken against the grain into strips about ¼ inch thick and 2 inches long. In a large bowl, combine 3 Tbsp fish sauce, the dark soy, 1 tsp brown sugar, lemongrass paste, garlic and pepper. Add the chicken and mix by hand for 15 to 20 seconds until every piece glistens. Let it sit at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk the noodle seasoning (sweet soy, 2 tsp fish sauce, oil) in one small bowl and the finishing sauce (2 Tbsp fish sauce, low-sodium soy, lime juice, 1 tsp brown sugar) in another.

Three sauces, three jobs: the marinade seasons the chicken, the sweet soy chars the noodles, the finishing sauce ties it together.
Air fry the chicken, then the veggies

Preheat the air fryer to 400°F for about 3 minutes and give the basket 3 to 4 sprays of cooking spray. Add the chicken in a single layer (two batches if needed) and air fry 8 to 10 minutes, shaking at the 5-minute mark, until the edges are caramelized and it hits 165°F inside. Move it to a clean large bowl. Toss the veggies with 2 to 3 sprays and air fry at 400°F for 5 to 6 minutes, shaking once at 3 minutes, until the edges crisp but they still crunch.

Meal prepping? Pull the chicken at 8 minutes. It finishes when you reheat.
Season the noodles

Put the drained noodles in a large clean bowl and pour the noodle seasoning over them. Toss with tongs for 15 to 20 seconds until every strand is glossy with a light brown tint.
Char them hard

Heat a large non-stick pan on high for 1 to 2 minutes, until a drop of water sizzles off instantly. Give it 2 to 3 sprays, add all the noodles and spread them across the whole pan. Don't touch them for 45 to 60 seconds: you want sizzling and a little smoke. Flip and toss, spread them out again and let them sit another 30 to 45 seconds. Look for brown, caramelized spots, not black ones.

This is the wok hei. A hot pan and patience do the work.
Bring it together

With the pan still on high, add the chicken and veggies to the noodles and pour the finishing sauce over everything. Toss nonstop for 1 to 2 minutes, lifting and folding so nothing burns. When it's glossy and smells intensely savory, toss in the green onion and pull it off the heat.
Portion and cool

Divide it evenly into 4 containers, about 500 to 520 g each. Leave the lids off or propped open for 15 to 20 minutes until it's completely cool, then seal and refrigerate for up to 3 to 4 days.

Sealing it hot means condensation, and condensation means soggy noodles.

A glass meal prep container of lean lort cha with charred rice noodles, lemongrass chicken and gai lan

Day 2, 3 and 4

Reheat it right.

Crack the lid and microwave on high for 2 minutes.
Stir well, then give it another 30 to 45 seconds if it needs it.
Wake it up with a splash of water or 1 tsp fish sauce and a squeeze of fresh lime. Flavors go quiet in the fridge, so this matters.
Top it with a soft-boiled egg, cilantro, sriracha or sweet chili sauce if you want.

Macros, Pursuit-style

Snap it. Get the macros.

Point your phone at the plate and the numbers come back in seconds: 720 calories and 49 g of protein in this one. No food scale, no guesswork.

Get your macros dialed with Pursuit

Phone showing the Lean Lort Cha macros: 720 kcal, 107 g carbs, 49 g protein, 9 g fat

If it goes sideways

Fixes

Noodles not charring?

The pan wasn't hot enough: the water drop should vanish instantly. Coat every strand in the sweet soy mix first, spread the noodles across the whole pan and give each side the full 45 to 60 seconds.

Chicken dry or bland?

Check it at 8 minutes instead of 10. Use the full 3 Tbsp fish sauce and 2 Tbsp dark soy, and mix for a full 20 seconds. Regular soy in place of dark soy will make it too salty, so follow the swaps above.

Reheated and tastes flat?

Totally normal after the fridge. Add fresh lime and a splash of fish sauce, plus 2 tsp water for moisture. Soggy noodles mean the containers were sealed hot.

No air fryer?

Heat the oven to 425°F and line a sheet pan with parchment. Chicken on one half, veggies on the other, 4 to 5 sprays of cooking spray, then bake 15 to 18 minutes, flipping halfway, until the chicken edges are golden and the veggies are lightly charred.

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LeanLort Cha