Vietnamese Style Roast Chicken

Ingredients:

1 x 1.2kg. chicken

Marinade:

1 lemongrass stalk, pale part (finely sliced)

2 coriander roots (cut into smaller pieces)

4 garlic cloves (peeled)

2 1/2 tbsp. light soy sauce

2 tbsp. fish sauce

1 tsp. dark sweet soy sauce or kecap manis

1 tbsp. brown sugar

Nuoc Cham:

1 1/2 tbsp. fish sauce

1 tbsp. white vinegar

1 1/2 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp. lime juice

1  red chilli (finely chopped)

2 garlic cloves (peeled and finely chopped)

Methods:

1. To prepare the chicken, place it breast side down on a chopping board.  Use scissors or knife to cut down either side of the backbone and remove it.  Flip the chicken over and press down on the breastplate so that breast bones crack and the chicken sits quite flat.
2. For the marinade, use a mortar and pestle to pound the lemongrass, coriander roots and garlic to a fine paste.  Stir through the light soy sauce, fish sauce, dark sweet soy sauce and brown sugar.
3. In a large bowl, combine the chicken with the marinade.  I let it marinate overnight in the fridge, turning a few times in between.
4. For the nuoc cham, add all the ingredients into a small bowl, whisk until sugar dissolves and set aside.
5. Prepare a baking tray and place a baking rack on top.  Place the chicken on the rack breast side up.  Pour over the marinade.  Pour 2 cups of water into the base of the baking tray.  Roast in a preheated oven of 200 degree Celsius for 40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through (you can test by using a knife to slice into the leg joint, and if the juices runs clear, the chicken is cooked).  Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
6. Cut the chicken into pieces and serve with nuoc cham, cucumber and steamed rice or with other sides.  I did not serve with rice, but with sides of broccoli with buttery crumbs and roasted potatoes with garlic.  For these 2 other recipes, do check out in my next blog post.

This recipe is adapted from 'Marion's Kitchen' with slight adjustments to suit my cooking preferences.