Around the holidays plenty of people look up ga nuong Tay Bac cham cham cheo for guests. The skin turns golden and crisp, the meat stays sweet and the mac khen gives its gentle tingling scent.
The difficulty is roasting a whole bird evenly without burning the skin. The chicken is wrapped in two layers of foil and roasted for 60 minutes, then unwrapped and given another 30 minutes for the skin to color. It marinates in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
This batch weighs about 1.6kg, at roughly 197 calories per 100g.
Method
Clean the chicken, rub it with lime and coarse salt, rinse it and drain. It can be left whole or butterflied. Prick the breast and thighs with a bamboo skewer so the seasoning reaches the meat.
Toast 3 teaspoons mac khen and 3 hat doi until fragrant. Rinse the kaffir lime leaf, spearmint and spring onion and shake them dry.
Put 2 teaspoons mac khen and 2 hat doi in a mortar with the herbs, shallot, garlic, ground ginger, turmeric powder, black pepper, chili powder, fresh chili and 1 tablespoon coarse salt, and pound to a paste. Add 2 tablespoons honey and 2 teaspoons seasoning powder and mix into a marinade.
Put on gloves and rub the marinade all over the chicken.
Wrap the chicken tightly in two layers of foil and marinate it in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Dong leaves or banana leaves give an earthier scent if you have them.
Heat the oven to 180 to 200C with both elements on. Roast the chicken in its foil for 60 minutes, then unwrap it, set it on a rack and roast another 30 minutes or so until the skin is golden and crisp.
Make the cham cheo: pound 1 tablespoon coarse salt, 1 teaspoon mac khen and 1 hat doi with spearmint, cilantro, sawtooth herb, ginger, chili, garlic, lemongrass and seasoning powder.
Set the chicken on a bamboo tray, garnish with herbs and serve the cham cheo alongside. It tastes best pulled apart by hand.
Tips
A ri chicken or a free range bird gives firmer, sweeter meat.
Roasting in foil first and finishing unwrapped keeps the meat soft while the skin still turns golden and crisp.
Toast the mac khen and hat doi over low heat, since even slight scorching turns them bitter.
Pricking the breast and thighs carries the seasoning deep, otherwise only the skin is seasoned.
Honey still counts as sugar, so the recipe stays at the 2 tablespoons given.
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