Ga Roti is a Vietnamese version of Poule Roti/roasted chicken french style. We usually pan- fry or deep fry Ga Roti in oil or fat because oven is not available for most home cook. Ga xoi mo is another way to cook ga roti at restaurant: hot oil is pour on the chicken by hand or machine continuously until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is golden and crispy. Sometime the chicken is steam or boil first and different spice is added in marinade like five-spices, ginger, etc. as well as soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar. Cornish Game Hen is a perfect choice for this dish with the tender meaty breast. A recipe in one of my old Vietnamese cookbook publish on 1985 has no five-spice powder-Bot Ngu Vi Huong, a popular mixed spice (Star anise, cinnamon, cloves, Fennel, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger powder, etc.) in Vietnam, China and other Asian countries. You can find it at Asian grocery store under Vietnamese name Ngu Vi Huong or Chinese Five Spice.
Make 1 or 2 servings
Recipe #1: Deep Fried Style without Five Spices
1 Cornish Game Hen (about 1.5 lb) thawed and cut in halves or whole
1/4 tsp salt.
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder or 1 garlic clove, finely crushed
1/2 tsp onion powder 1 Asian shallot, finely chopped
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning (optional)
Vegetable oil for deep fry
Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients for 1 hour at room temperature.
Need enough vegetable oil to cover the chicken. The amount of oil can be measure by put the chicken in a pot and add water to cover it. And the oil only can reach to 1/2 of the height of the pot to prevent overfill when adding chicken.
Heating the oil to 375 oF, add chicken and fry until the skin is golden brown and chicken cooked through about 15 minutes, check by poking the thigh and clear juice returned or internal temperature is 165oF.
If you fry many chickens, keep the fried chicken on wire rack atop of a rimmed baking sheet in 200 oF oven while frying the others
Serve with salt, black pepper and lemon wedges or soy sauce Squeeze lemon juice over a little salt and pepper. Serve with baguette, rice, sticky rice or sticky rice balls.
Recipe #2: Pan seard with Five Spices
1 Cornish Game Hen (about 1.5 lb) thawed and cut in halves
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs fish sauce
1 Tbs sugar
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp Five Spices powder
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 Asian shallot, finely minced
1/2 cup of coconut water from the whole young coconut, canned, etc. not coconut milk/cream
2 Tbs vegetable oil for frying
1. Marinate chicken with all the ingredients over night or at least 1 hours.
2. Heating oil in a large skilled sear the chicken until the skin is golden. Cover chicken with coconut water, bring it back to a boil, cover and simmer over medium low heat until chicken cooked through, the juice runs clear about 10-15 minutes. Remove the lid, reduce the sauce, taste and adjust seasoning. After searing and add coconut water, the chicken can be roasted in oven at 425 oF in 15-20 minutes until the skin is crisp and golden brown, turning one: skin side down first. Remove from heat, let chicken rest for 10-15 minutes, cut into bite sizes.
3. Serve with cooked rice, sticky rice, Red rice (Mexico or Spanish Rice), lettuce, tomato, cucumber and sauce on the side.
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