Ga nau ruou nep kieu Nam Bo gives a whole chicken scented with rice wine, its skin pulled taut and glossy. The hardest part is the heat, since a strong flame dries the meat and drives the wine off.
A free range chicken of about 1.5kg is the right size for the pot. The chicken marinates inside and out for 1 hour, and the lid comes off only once, to pour in 200ml of sticky rice wine. It stays sealed for the whole 15 to 20 minutes of cooking.
This batch weighs about 2.1kg, at roughly 200 calories per 100g.
Method
Marinate the 1.5kg free range chicken inside and out with 2 tablespoons minced garlic, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 teaspoon black pepper and 1 teaspoon seasoning powder, then leave it for 1 hour.
Put the whole chicken in a pot with 2 tablespoons cooking oil and cook over a very low heat for 1 minute.
Lift the lid, pour in 200ml sticky rice wine, then seal the lid again.
Keep cooking over very low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the chicken is tender and has taken on the seasoning.
Serve with 2 heads of Da Lat lettuce and 2 tomatoes, with soy sauce or salt, pepper and lime for dipping, and bread on the side for a fuller meal.
Tips
The 2 tablespoons of cooking oil added during cooking pull the skin taut and glossy.
A very low heat and a sealed lid keep the scent of the wine in the meat.
Pour the wine in once the pot is hot and the chicken has firmed up, since a cold pot leaves a raw wine smell.
A full hour in the marinade carries the seasoning inside, since a rushed one leaves it on the skin.
Soy sauce or salt, pepper and lime both work for dipping, depending on the house taste.
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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.