Ga Roti Recipe - Vietnamese Rotisserie Chicken

This is a typical midweek dish in my family's household. It's so easy to make, full of flavour and is a great leftover dish.

The name Ga Roti literally translates to chicken rotisserie. Vietnam was once colonized by the French and a lot of our cooking is heavily influenced by French cuisine. The dish is funnily enough, not cooked on a rotisserie and most of the time isn't even cooked in an oven. My parents tell me it's because most families could not afford a proper oven back then so they adapted the dish to a braising method which is typical of Vietnamese cuisine.

My recipe tries to get the best of both methods. First by braising it until the chicken has absorbed all the lovely braising liquid and then a quick roast under a hot grill to get that crispy skin. Ga Roti is better suited for the darker cuts of chicken like thighs (bone in), legs, maryland etc. I have tried this using thigh cutlets with no skin and it still tastes great - just no crispy skin to indulge in! I also serve this with a fried rice made from the left over sauce.

 

Ingredients
4 Maryland chicken pieces (approx 1.5kg)
Juice from 1 fresh young coconut or 1 can coconut water
2 tablespoon vegetable oil + 1 teaspoon extra
3 green onions, thinly sliced
6 cups of cooked rice, preferably day old rice

Marinade
2.5 tablespoon light soy sauce
2.5 tablespoon fish sauce
2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon honey
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon five star spice
8 drops sesame oil 

Method

1. Pierce the chicken in random spots all over with a thin knife or a fork. This will help marinade it better.

2. In a wide base bowl, add all the marinade ingredients and mix together. Then add the chicken into the bowl and using your hands, rub the chicken in the marinade. Let it sit for 6-8hrs in the fridge or overnight if possible.

3. In a heavy duty pan, heat 2 tablespoon vegetable oil. Add the chicken skin side down. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan. You may need to do this in batches.

4. Once all seared on both sides, add the remaining marinade juices into the pan along with the coconut water. 

5. Bring to the boil for 1 minute and then switch to a very low simmer. Cover for 15-20minutes until the sauce has reduced to a third.Preheat your oven now to 200c with the grill setting on.

6. Once the sauce has reduced to a third, remove the chicken and place on a wire rack skin side up. Place directly under the grill for a further 5-7minutes or until skin is crispy. Careful not to burn the skin.

7.  With the remaining sauce in the pan, reserve half in a dipping bowl for serving. Heat up the rest in the same pan on medium heat. Add a teaspoon of cooking oil and then add in the green onions. Cook until onions have slightly wilted.

8. Add in the rice and mix until it has all combined with the sauce. Season with salt and serve with the chicken. Drizzle the chicken with some of the reserved sauce. This is best eaten with a fresh salad, mainly of cucumber, lettuce and tomato.