Hi Everyone! Its Marissa from Maiyummy back again on Amcarmen’s Kitchen and it’s a pleasure for me to introduce the second and last dish for my week. Tonight’s dish is one that is known to finally endeavour the Vietnamese community through hardship and war, but 25 years ago, it was a dish invented with the idea to save locals through famine.

From generation to generation, we cannot forget this dish as it commonly appears in Vietnamese gatherings and memorial days. The dish is called Cơm Gà (Vietnamese Chicken Rice), originally based in the Quang Nam province where I grew up. Chicken is the cheapest and most available food resource in Vietnam, and therefore it is widely popular and used in many typical Vietnamese dishes.

PREP TIME 20 MINS | COOKING TIME 45 MINS | SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

For the chicken rice

• 2 cups jasmine rice, uncooked
• 2 pcs chicken whole legs (or a whole chicken)
• 2-3 red bird’s eye chillies, sliced
• 2 medium brown onions, halved and then sliced
• 1 lemon, halved
• 1 medium tomato, sliced
• 1 stalk spring onion, sliced thinly
• 1 thumb-sized ginger, peeled and julienned (reserve the peels)
• 3 tbsp chicken powder
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp white vinegar
• Ground sea salt and black pepper

For the heart/liver sauce

• 100g chicken heart, washed and cleaned
• 100g chicken liver, washed and cleaned
• 2-3 garlic cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 tbsp chicken stock (from the broth)
• 1 & 1/2 tbsp white sugar
• 1 tbsp chicken powder
• Ground sea salt

METHOD

1. Prepare the chicken: Add the chicken whole legs to a large pot of water together with about 2 tablespoons of chicken powder and the reserved peeled ginger skins. Boil the chicken for about 40 minutes or until it is cooked all the way through. Remove the chicken from the broth and set aside to cool down. Once cool, shred the chicken into small pieces. Return the bones to the broth and add about half of the onions. Keep it at a low simmer.
2. Prepare the rice: Wash and rinse 2 cups of uncooked jasmine rice and then add to a rice cooker together with a tablespoon of chicken powder, julienned ginger, and about 2 & 1/2 cups of the chicken broth. Let it cook in the rice cooker until done (about 20 minutes).
3. Prepare the chicken salad mixture: In a small bowl, add the white vinegar together with a few ice cubes and the remaining onions. Mix around and set aside for about 15-20 minutes for it to pickle.
4. In a medium-sized bowl, add 2-3 tablespoons of chicken broth, about a tablespoon of ground black pepper, half a tablespoon of chicken powder, one red bird’s eye chilli, and juice of half a lemon. Mix around to combine. Then add the shredded chicken, pickled onions, and spring onions and combine all the ingredients together. Add some fish sauce if the chicken salad tastes a bit bland.
5. Prepare the liver sauce: Heat about a tablespoon of peanut oil in a small saucepan over medium-high. Sauté the garlic for about 2 minutes or until fragrant and golden brown. Then add in the chicken heart and liver and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth, chicken powder, and sugar, and let it cook for a further 5 minutes. Season with salt when it’s ready.
6. Plate up: Place the chicken salad on top of the rice with the chicken heart and liver to the side. Then pour the heart/liver sauce on top of chicken salad, and serve with a side of the chicken soup and chilli sauce of your choice.

Hopefully this brought back a most authentic Vietnamese experience from where I am from, both culturally and through the experience of food. Thank you and have a lovely week 🙂

~ OH MAI YUMMYYYYY

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