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Grilled 5-Spice Chicken-Ga Ngu Vi Huong

Source of Recipe

Mai Pham in Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table recommended by Bruce at eGullet


Recipe Introduction

This is a wonderful, delicious, fragrant dish! I truly appreciate Bruce recommending this to me. Mike and Jessica just loved it. I served this with Coconut "Rice" (Orzo). Note that you need to make the Soy-Lime sauce and that you add the star anise 1/2 hour before grilling.

List of Ingredients

1 whole chicken (about 2 1/2 pounds), preferably free range, rinsed
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons minced ginger
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
1/2 tablespoon sea salt
4 whole star anise, lightly toasted in a dry pan for 3 minutes, pounded or ground into a fine powder
1/2 cup Soy-Lime Dipping Sauce



Recipe

Cut the chicken into 6 pieces and make 1 or 2 slashes in each piece for faster cooking. Trim and discard any excess fat. Pat the chicken dry.

In a bowl, combine the oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sugar, turmeric, five-spice powder and salt. Stir well to blend. Add the chicken pieces and turn several times to coat them evenly. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Preheat a gas grill to moderate heat. (You can also use a broiler.) Thirty minutes before cooking, add the freshly toasted star anise powder to the marinated chicken, turning so the meat is coated evenly. Place the chicken, skin side up, on the grill. Cook 10 minutes, then turn over and grill until the chicken is cooked and the juices run clear, another 10 minutes, depending on the thickness. While grilling, move the chicken pieces around so that they cook evenly.

Transfer the chicken to a serving platter and serve with the dipping sauce.

Makes 4 servings.