Canh ga la giang mang chua suits a hot day. The broth is cleanly sour, the chicken sweet, the bamboo shoots crisp. The catch is that la giang leaves turn harsh and dull once they cook too long.
Choose leaves that are neither old nor too young and bruise them lightly rather than crushing them to shreds. They go in last and cook only 2 to 3 minutes before the heat goes off. That is what holds the clean sourness and the clear color.
This batch weighs about 2.7kg, at roughly 59 calories per 100g.
Method
Rinse the chicken, cut it into bite sized pieces and drain, then season with 1 tablespoon minced shallot and 1/2 tablespoon seasoning powder. Mix well and leave for 10 minutes.
Rinse the sour bamboo shoots several times to soften the sourness and drain them. Cut the tomato into wedges. Bruise the bird's eye chilies. Rinse the sawtooth herb and rau om and chop them.
Heat 1 tablespoon cooking oil in a pan and fry the remaining shallot until fragrant, then add the chicken and stir until firm.
Bring 1.5 liters of water to a boil, add the seared chicken with 1 tablespoon seasoning powder and 1/2 tablespoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, lower to medium heat and boil for 10 minutes.
Add the bamboo shoots and wait for the pot to return to a boil, then add the tomato and la giang leaves and stir.
Add the bird's eye chilies, sawtooth herb, rau om and 2 tablespoons fish sauce, stir once and turn off the heat.
Tips
Choose la giang leaves that are neither too old nor too young, which gives a clean sourness with no astringency.
Bruise the la giang only lightly, as crushing it to shreds clouds the soup and turns it harsh.
Add the la giang last, cook for another 2 to 3 minutes and turn off the stove at once.
Rinse the sour bamboo shoots several times to take the edge off before they go into the pot.
Stir fry the chicken until firm before it goes into the boiling water, since raw chicken clouds the soup and leaves an off smell.
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The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.