This recipe has a special place in my heart. Gà Rô-Ti was my first Vietnamese food experience, served to me by my Vietnamese host mother on my first night as an exchange student in Germany. The feels! The culture clashes! It is delicious, and I was literally terrified to mess with this recipe and dishonor Vietnamese food everywhere. However, Starrlight’s Honeyed Peach was calling my name.
Most cultures have a roasted chicken dish, and in Vietnam, this is it. It is typically a special occasion meal, and traditionally the chicken would be marinated in Maggi seasoning, garlic, sugar, and pepper/chilies. It is so simple, but marinating is the key – allowing it to marinate for at least 12-24 hours will infuse deep umami flavors into the chicken. It also mimics a brining step since salt and sugar are included in the marinade, and it will keep your chicken nice and juicy. I prefer not to use MSG in my cooking, so I skip the Maggi and use soy sauce instead. Tamari or coconut aminos would do nicely also, but the flavor will vary slightly. Honeyed Peach mead will take the place of sugar in the original recipe.
Serve Beef Stroganoff with sautéed green beans and a glass of Blueberry Mead Off-dry!
Ingredients:
Marinade:
4 lbs of chicken drumsticks, thighs, and/or wings*
4 large garlic cloves, finely minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 1/2 tablespoons Maggi seasoning, soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos
2 1/2 tablespoons neutral oil (vegetable, canola, avocado, etc.)
½ cup Starrlight Mead Honeyed Peach mead
Dipping Sauce:
Vietnamese food is all about the condiments, so the dipping sauce is a must!
1 1/2 cups Starrlight Mead Honeyed Peach mead
1 teaspoon garlic chili sauce (optional – or add more for extra kick)
Directions:
Place chicken in a plastic bag or container. Combine the garlic, salt, pepper, Maggi/soy sauce, oil, and mead in a bowl. Pour over the chicken and marinate in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours. Don’t skip this step! I mean, you can…but the flavor won’t be nearly as good. To increase the flavor further, you can massage the chicken pieces and push marinade up under the skin as well. I also flip my chicken pieces every few hours or when I think about it.
Thirty minutes before roasting, take the chicken out of the refrigerator. Line a baking sheet with foil and preheat the oven to 400F.
While your chicken is waiting to go in the oven, you can start the dipping sauce. Put the peach mead into a saucepan, turn the heat to medium and get ready to stir and keep an eye on it.
Take the chicken out of the marinade and put it on the lined baking sheet, skin side down, and then place the baking sheet on the center oven rack. Discard the marinade. After 15 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven and flip the chicken. Put the chicken back in the oven for another 20-45 minutes, checking for doneness with a meat thermometer. If you have a lot of rendered fat in the pan when you check on your chicken, you can pour it off to encourage the chicken to get crispy.
While your chicken is in the oven, continue to reduce the peach mead until it is thick and syrupy. Pour into a small dipping sauce container with as much chili garlic sauce as you desire.
This chicken may be served hot or room temperature. It is great for picnics!
Serving Suggestions: Most recently, I served this with some leftover shrimp pad Thai and veggies I made the night before – super lazy Asian surf and turf. Normally I would serve it with sliced cucumbers and raw tomato wedges, rice, and whatever other vegetables I happen to have. To drink, I would go with the Starrlight Mead Honeyed Peach or Traditional Semi-Sweet if you chose the spicy dipping sauce option. If you decided not to spice it up, Ginger Mead or a cocktail of 50/50 Honeyed Peach and Ben’s Special Ginger are also nice!
*Can you use boneless, skinless chicken breasts? Technically yes. There are no food police here; however, I would encourage you to use bone-in, skin-on chicken for this recipe. You can include bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts if you prefer white meat. It stays juicier, and you can always remove the skin after cooking if you do not wish to eat it.