“Le Viet” Roasted Chicken.
This is a Vietnamese home-run from Phú Quốc island. I have carefully measured out everything so there is no guess work. Just tasty chicken which I call my “Le Viet” special – French influenced, Vietnamese deliciousness. ‘Nuff said.
Special tools for this chicken recipe:
- A mallet, a hammer, or your heel
- A spice grinder or a mortar and pestle if you want to build up those shoulders
Pick these ingredients up in advance.
- A 5lb. Kosher, natural free-range, or a backyard, squawkin’ coop chicken.
- 1 tbl. fish sauce. (my favorite is Squid brand)
The 5-spice or rub for the “Le Viet” chicken
- 1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
- 1/2 tsp. cloves
- 1/2 tsp. star anise
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. white pepper powder
First thing is first. Preheat your oven (hopefully it’s gas) to 350 degrees.
Now go ahead and butcher the whole chicken. Hey, it’s good practice for self-defense and you can make many meals out of one fryer size chicken. Take the legs, wings and thighs and put them on a baking sheet. Drizzle the tablespoon of fish sauce (nước mắm) over the chicken. Use a brush and make sure all parts are covered. Marinate for 10 minutes. I use fish sauce since it has that salty umami flavor and well, ders, it’s just so Vietnamese to do so.
While that is marinating/brining, start your fresh five-spice rub. Fresh is word. It has to be fresh, fresh, fresh. Take all the ingredients and put them in a little plastic baggie. Smash it with a mallet. Then throw all the pieces into a spice grinder and get to it. It will take you a bit of time.
It should yield a consistency similar to fine saw dust and the aroma should be quite nice. If the spice grinder was asking too much then do whatever it takes with whatever to make it look like a sand-like mixture.
Next comes the easy part. Grab the chicken out the fridge and start sprinkling the spice over all the parts, on both sides. Use all the spice. You should not have any left over. Now see wasn’t that nice of me to step it out so that you know how much spice is just enough?
You are almost done. Make sure the oven is still at 350 degrees and then plop the chicken in for 30 minutes. During the last 5 minutes I like to put it under the broiler to make the chicken extra crispy. Kill the heat and let it rest inside the oven for 10 minutes. Serve. That was so freakin’ easy!
If you have lots of leftover Vietnamese roasted chicken, simply pull all the meat off and put it in the fridge for some Bánh mì later in the week.
Enjoy Yo’self.