Vietnamese Chicken Bowls
Vietnamese Chicken Bowls
We adore this salad in our house. It is the perfect companion to a hot day. This takes some preparation, it’s easy but you have to plan a little for it to make it all come together in the end. I only make this when I know I have a little extra time in my day. It’s always a hit and I know it’ll become a staple for you too.
The chicken has to marinate for four hours, the dressing is made on the stovetop and then cooled in the pan, and the pickles require some cutting. You prep it all in the morning and it’s ready for you for dinner. These three recipes are an amalgamation of several different recipes on simplyrecipes.com Remember that site?! It was one of the very first food blogs on the internet (I’m SO OLD right now). I feel like it’s the America’s Test Kitchen of the internet, its recipes are solid and never disappoint. I also use my Paprika app to make this a “menu” so these recipes are also close at hand when I need them. If you don’t use Paprika you need to, it’s amazing.
For the Salad:
Romaine Lettuce
Vermicelli rice noodles, cooked according to package directions & cooled
Sliced cucumber (you can pickle this too!)
Sliced, cooled chicken
Pickles
Cilantro
Salad Dressing
Prepping Chicken:
2lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs. You can use skin on if you wish, just de-bone it.
Place chicken in a ziploc bag or non-reactive bowl. I prefer the bag because then I can flip the chicken halfway through without getting my hands or a utensil dirty.
Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce (I use Tamari since it’s GF)
1/4 cup fish sauce (I use Red Boat since it’s GF and it’s the best)
3 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh peeled and grated ginger
1 tablespoon chopped Thai (or Sweet) basil
1 to 2 teaspoons hot sauce
Zest and juice of 1 medium lime
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Combine all marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Pour over chicken, massage it in, and place in refrigerator for four hours. If you aren’t going to use it immediately after marinating, drain the marinade. Once the four hours is up I like to cook my chicken then so it has time to cool but it does not matter.
I use a grill pan on medium-low heat. This is important, so listen up. If you grill the chicken at a higher temp it will burn because the brown sugar and soy sauce will char. It forms a crust and it tastes burnt. A little is fine but you are really going for a beautiful caramelization. Go low and slow, it’ll take about twenty minutes but it is worth it!
Grilled Chicken
Salad Dressing:
While the chicken is marinating make your salad dressing. This is sort of a nuoc cham, it’s delicious and I usually double this because my son LOVES it.
2 tablespoons granulated sugar, or more to taste
1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoons fish sauce
1 piece (1-inch) fresh ginger, cut into 2 thick slices
1 clove garlic, halved
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil then immediately turn off the heat. Let it cool completely in the saucepan then strain solid ingredients.
Pickles
I didn’t have Daikon on this round so I pickled some onions. There are a million different ways to quick pickle but this one is great.
2 pounds carrots (about 5 medium sized carrots), peeled
2 pounds of daikon radishes (about 2 large daikon), peeled
1 cup plus 4 teaspoons of sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
2 cups boiling water
1 Julienne the carrots and the daikon radishes: Cut them first crosswise into 2 1/2 inch long segments. Then cut 1/4-inch thick slices lengthwise. Stack the slices and cut them again into 1/4-inch thick batons. If you don’t have the energy for this, I usually don’t, use a peeler and make ribbons.
2 Massage with salt and sugar: Place the carrots and daikon radishes in a large bowl. Sprinkle with 4 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of salt. Use your clean hands to toss the carrots and daikon with the salt and sugar until well coated.
Continue to mix the carrots and daikon with your hands until they begin to soften, about 3 minutes. They are ready once you can bend a piece of daikon all the way over without it breaking.
3 Rinse: Transfer the carrots and daikon to a colander, rinse with cool water and drain well.
4 Make vinegar sugar mixture: In a saucepan, mix together one cup of sugar, the white vinegar and the warm water, until the sugar dissolves.
5 Pour vinegar mixture over carrots and daikon in jars: Prepare clean jars. Pack the daikon and carrots tightly into the jars. Pour over the pickling liquid to cover. Seal. Refrigerate. These are best eaten the next day but if you make them in the morning they will be delicious at dinner. These will last four-six weeks in your fridge.
Pickles