Ga Ro Ti (Vietnamese Roasted Chicken)

Ga ro ti, or Vietnamese roasted chicken, is one of the easiest recipes.  This recipe was actually the first thing my mom taught me when I'd moved off campus in college and would soon have my own kitchen to cook in.  It has 4 ingredients.  That's it.  And you need a pan.  Doesn't get that much simpler with Vietnamese cooking.  Also, it doesn't take like, 5 hours to make.

The sauce, although photographically uninteresting, is really really really good.  Coco Rico, a Coconut soda (Puerto Rican soda available at Fiesta and other places), is caramelized with TONS of garlic and Maggi to make this really awesome, sticky, sweet, salty sauce.  It's almost like the French 40 clove garlic roasted chicken in the proportion of garlic it uses.  The dark meat of the chicken makes it almost impossible to dry out, too.  My mother's recipe used drumsticks, but I've cut the recipe down in size to feed 2 and subbed chicken thighs which I find a little tastier and more versatile.  

Served over a simple bed of rice, you can accompany it with a small salad or some fresh cucumbers and pickled carrots.  I forgot how tasty and easy this recipe was and when I made it last night, R went back to pour the sauce over leftover rice.


Go Ro Ti (Vietnamese Roasted Chicken)
Ingredients:
  • 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, about 1.25lbs
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • salt and pepper, (I use about 1 tsp. of my muoi thieu Hue here)
  • 1 tsp. Maggi seasoning sauce*
  • 3 oz of Coco Rico soda, about 1/4 can
  • 1 tsp. butter
*can substitute soy sauce

Directions:
  1. Rub chicken thighs with salt and pepper, garlic, and Maggi. 
  2. Sear both sides of chicken over medium-high heat until browned, about 3-5 minutes each side.  Make sure to move garlic around the pan frequently or pile on top of the chicken so as not to burn garlic.
  3. Add Coco Rico and simmer on medium-low until sauce becomes caramelized, thickened, and slightly sticky.  Stir the sauce occasionally and turn chicken thighs for even cooking.  This may take 20-40 minutes.
  4. Serve over rice.



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