Vietnamese grilled chicken is loaded with big south east Asian flavours. Citrus. Ginger. Chili. And the kiss of smoke. Delicious.
Sometimes you need to shake things up. Grilled chicken can be a trap. You get into a rut – making the same 3 dishes over and over.
Vietnamese grilled chicken is a new take on backyard grilling
If you’re stuck there, Vietnamese grilled chicken is for you. Bright citrusy flavours. A bit of smoke. A hint of chili. The tang of ginger.
It all comes together in this dish. Vietnamese grilled chicken is a great way to bust out of your grilled chicken funk with a bang.
Charcoal grilling makes it better
I’m a charcoal fan. I am actually a huge charcoal fan. Don’t own a gas barbecue. Haven’t for years. A decade. Maybe longer.
Charcoal adds a flavour that gas barbecues just can’t. Smouldering wood chips over propane is not the same thing as charcoal.
If you don’t believe me you haven’t had anything cooked over charcoal in a while. If you are in the market for a new grill I urge you to try something like a weber kettle.
It costs less than all but the cheapest gas grill and it will last a lifetime. Good value IMO. Great flavour too.
Vietnamese grilled chicken is great over charcoal. I’m sure it will work over gas – but I don’t think it will be quite as good. Sorry. Don’t let that stop you though. It will still be better than chicken and barbecue sauce.
vietnamese grilled chicken with ginger lime noodle salad
Ingredients
- 1 4 lb chicken or 4 lbs chicken parts
Marinade
- 2 large shallots finely diced
- 2 stalks lemongrass finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sambal oelek - red chili paste
- 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
Ginger lime dipping sauce
- 2 Tbsp ginger very finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic very finely diced
- 1/2 green chili seeded and diced
- 1 tsp sambal oelek
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- juice of one lime
- 4 Tbsp sugar
Ginger lime noodles
- 8 oz broad rice noodles
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- 1/4 red pepper diced
- 1-2 green chilies thinly sliced
- 1 handful cilantro torn
- 1 handful mint torn
- chopped peanuts
- 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup ginger lime dipping sauce
Instructions
Marinate the chicken
- Joint the chicken. Quarter the chicken, removing the back. Separate the thighs from the drumsticks. Remove the wings from the breasts. Cut each breast into 3 roughly equal pieces. You should have 12 pieces of chicken.
- Combine the marinade ingredients. In a large bowl, toss the chicken in the marinade. Marinate for no more than 2 hours. Lemon is an acid. It “cooks” the chicken and can result in a mushy texture.
Make the dipping sauce
- Chop the ginger, green chili and garlic as finely as you can. If you have a morter and pestle, grind them together.
- Add the remaining dipping sauce ingredients and stir thoroughly to dissolve the sugar. Let stand about 1 hour before using.
Grill the chicken
- Remove the chicken from marinade.
- If using a gas grill, set it up for high indirect heat. Place a drip pan under the grill on the cool side. Grill the chicken over the dripping pan for about 25 minutes. Move the chicken over high heat briefly to add grill marks if desired.
- If using a charcoal grill, bank the charcoal on both sides and place a drip pan in the middle. Grill the chicken over the drip pan for about 25 minutes. Move it over the charcoal carefully to add grill marks.
The noodles
- Soak the noodles in hot water for 40-45 minutes to soften. Do not boil them. Please.
- Heat the oil in a wok or large pan. Add the noodles and stir fry until they soften. Remove the pan from heat. Add 1/3 cup ginger lime dipping sauce. Stir briefly and add the green onion, red pepper and green chili.
- Alternately you can serve this with a cool noodle salad. You need to cook the noodles first. A soak won’t quite do it. Then toss the noodles with the green onion and the peppers. Drizzle with the dipping sauce and a bit of the herbs and peanuts. Works great either way. Mix it up. It will be fine.
To serve
- Spread the noodle mixture on a plate. Sprinkle with cilantro, mint and peanuts - or whatever you feel like. Top with the grilled chicken and drizzle the ginger lime sauce overtop. Serve additional dipping sauce on the side.
Notes
Nutrition
Spicy miso grilled chicken is a Korean inspired dish worthy of your next backyard grilling party. Bright Korean flavours work beautifully here. And it’s no surprise. How long have the Koreans been serving BBQ?
I’ve been getting into miso lately. The salty, earthy, savory flavour just seems to add magic to everything it touches.
Miso grilled chicken with Korean kick
I saw recipe for Japanese broiled miso chicken. Looked really good. Subtle and understated in that Japanese way. But so tasty.
Then I started thinking. What if I made that but slammed it up against Korean zing? And tossed it on the grill? It worked.
In the end, spicy miso grilled chicken is more Korean than Japanese. Subtle Japanese inspiration crushed by a big dollop of gochujang.
Gochujang is like miso jacked up with Korean flavours. It’s chili and fermented soybean. Straight up it’s pretty assertive. Mix miso and gochujang and you mellow out the bite. That’s why this works. The miso smooths things out nicely.
What you wind up with is grilled chicken that tastes Korean but tempered somehow by the miso. It’s an umami bomb. No doubt about that.
But there’s more Japanese influence here. Mirin and sugar lend a sweet note. Sake adds a little something too. And in the end it comes together in a way that’s hard to put a finger on. Just tasty Asian inspired grilled chicken.
Grilling technique matters
Grilling technique is really important in this recipe. There’s sugar in the marinade. There’s skin on the chicken. Direct heat invites burning. Burning badly.
Indirect, medium hot heat is what you are after. Set your grill up so there’s no fire directly under the chicken. It’s a good idea to put a drip pan under the grill grate too. The fat dripping from the chicken will make a big mess otherwise.
Once the chicken is almost done it over the direct heat to char up a bit. Do this a few pieces at a time. You are going to get flare-ups. Stay cool. Stay calm. Use long tongs. It will be OK.
Don’t fear the grill. It’s a tool. Own it. It’s there to serve you.
Once you have the char you want move the pieces back to the safe zone. Keep doing that until all the chicken is just the way you want it.
Spicy miso grilled chicken. It could become one of your favourites. It’s one of mine…
