Ga hap rau ram: steamed chicken with Vietnamese mint
Author: Aliette de Bodard
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
An aromatic dish of chicken.
Ingredients
600g chicken
1 red onion, sliced paper thin
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sriracha sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
6 tablespoons nuoc cham
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 garlic clove, cut into small pieces
⅔ cup rau ram leaves, chopped into small pieces
Instructions
Mix together the salt, the rice wine, 1 tablespoon sriracha, the sugar, the pepper and the red onion (in this order precisely, in order to have a smooth sauce before putting in the onion). Let the flavours develop for 20-30 minutes.
Cut the chicken into rough chunks, and steam it in a basket for 20-30 minutes, until cooked.
Meanwhile, mix the sauce: the hoisin, the nuoc cham, the sesame oil, the garlic clove and 1 tablespoon of the sriracha. Taste and adjust: it should be sweet with a kick and a tang (especially, the hoisin taste shouldn't overwhelm the other flavours).
When the chicken is cooked, chop it into small pieces. Mix well with the rau ram leaves.
Take the onions out of their liquid, rinse them once in cold water, and add to the chicken. Mix well.
Pour the sauce on top of the chicken-rau ram-onion mixture. Serve with rice and a vegetable.
Notes
Rau ram, Vietnamese mint, can be found in most Asian shops. If you can't find any, you can use the common mint (NOT peppermint) in replacement, though the taste won't be quite the same. The measurements I give are for leaves tightly packed into the measuring cup. Sriracha can be replaced with your favorite chilli sauce. You can also fry the red onion for a small bit before putting it into the marinade, if you don't want the dish to taste strongly of onions (I don't mind, but the H does).
Recipe by Aliette de Bodard at https://www.aliettedebodard.com/recipes/ga-hap-rau-ram-steamed-chicken-vietnamese-mint/