The chicken rice recipe was first documented by histographies in Hainan province, China, during the Chin dynasty. Other historians claim that chicken rice recipe is as old as the use of rice itself. By the late 1900s, this recipe had spread across Southeast Asia, including Vietnam.
New methods of cooking the chicken emerged. Local chef got creative whether it was marinating in red wine or serving cold. Each region has its own sauce and condiments to go with it. In this Vietnamese recipe, it draws on no other iconic Vietnamese ingredient, the fish sauce.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 whole chicken
- 2 littles of water
- 2 large knobs of ginger
- 1 sprig of Vietnamese coriander
- 5 cups of white rice
Chicken & Rice
- ½ tsp of cooking oil
- 1 shallot
- 1 tsp of fish sauce
- 1 tsp of sugar
- 1 tsp of salt
- 1 tsp of lemongrass
Ginger Dipping Sauce
- ½ cup of sugar
- ½ cup of fish sauce
- 1 med knob of ginger
- 1 ½ limes
- 2 small chili peppers
STEPS
- Salt the chicken and let sit for 3 minutes. Rinse.
- In a large pot with two liters of boiling water, add the whole chicken. Cook for 35 minutes and then transfer the chicken to a bowl of iced water. Set the chicken stock aside.
- After 30 min, remove the chicken. Remove the skin. Cut the chicken into small pieces. Heat a large pan on medium high with ½ tsp of cooking oil. Add the chicken skin and let skin brown and fat render for 1 minutes. Remove the fried chicken skin and place on a plate lined with paper towels.
- Chop the 2 large knobs of ginger for about 1 ½ cups of ginger. Mince 1 tsp of lemongrass. Chop 1 shallot.
- Using the chicken fat, sauté the chopped ginger and lemon grass in a large nonstick pan. Add the shallots. Cook for 5 minutes until the ginger is pasty. Add 1 tsp of fish sauce, 1 tsp of sugar, and 1 tsp of salt.
- Wash 5 cups of uncooked white rice. Add the uncooked rice to the pan and toss for 10 minutes. Add the rice and stir fired ingredients to a rice cooker or a stock pot with lid. Add 10 cups of chicken stock. Cook the rice on low for 25 minutes. Serve rice and chicken on the plate. Sprinkle thinly sliced Vietnamese coriander on top.
- For the ginger fish sauce, grate 1 medium knob of ginger to get 3 tbsp of ginger. Mince 2 chili peppers. In a small bowl, mix ½ cup of sugar, ½ cup of fish sauce, grated ginger, juice from 1 ½ limes, and chili peppers.
There you go. That’s how to cook Vietnamese chicken rice for 4 persons, with total 30 minutes preparation and about 45 minutes cooking. We hope you enjoy cooking Vietnamese chicken rice at home, and please contact us if there is anything we can help.
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