Ga Hap Muoi Sa La Chanh (Salt Steamed Chicken), Made with Monk Fruit Sweetener
Vietnamese dishesSteamed DishesNationwide100 minutes, including 30 to 60 minutes marinating and 50 minutes steaming
Salt steamed chicken with lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf sounds simple, but it lives or dies on aroma. There has to be enough lemongrass and lime leaf for the perfume to reach the middle of the meat.
The hard part is the heat: under steamed and the thigh is still red, over steamed and the meat turns dry. The pot takes no water at all. Four hundred grams of coarse salt spread over two layers of foil holds the heat evenly, so the skin does not split and the meat keeps its natural sweetness.
This batch weighs about 2.4kg, at roughly 196 calories per 100g.
Method
Rub the chicken with salt and lime, rinse it several times, then drain it completely dry.
Slice the shallots finely, cut the onion into thick pieces for the base of the pot, halve and bruise the lemongrass, slice the kaffir lime leaves finely and slice the chilies.
Pound 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 teaspoon seasoning powder, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon ground pepper together with the shallots and chilies, then stir in 1 tablespoon cooking oil.
Rub the mixture over the chicken, inside and out, and marinate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Line the pot with 2 layers of foil, spread 400g coarse salt over it, then layer on the onion, the lemongrass stalks, the Vietnamese coriander (rau ram) and the kaffir lime leaves.
Set the chicken in the pot, cover it with 5 to 6 kaffir lime leaves and 3 lemongrass stalks, and pour 1 tablespoon fish sauce over it.
Seal the top with foil, cover the pot and steam over medium heat for about 50 minutes.
Mix the dipping salt: 1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 teaspoon black pepper and 2 tablespoons lime juice, stirred together, then add shredded kaffir lime leaf and sliced chili.
Lift the chicken out, chop it into pieces and serve hot with the salt, pepper and lime dip.
Tips
A chopstick pushed into the thickest part of the thigh should draw no red juice once the chicken is cooked through.
The bed of coarse salt and the foil over the top hold the steam in, so no water is needed and the skin stays intact.
Spread the coarse salt thickly and evenly across the base of the pot, since thin patches scorch and taint the skin.
Finely sliced kaffir lime leaves go into the marinade and whole leaves go on top, which gives two layers of aroma.
Chicken that is fully drained takes the seasoning better and does not release water into the pot.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.