Roast Chicken Thighs with Vietnamese Flavors

As you know, I don't often use recipes directly from the source as I am always tweaking things. I think it's that an experienced cook can often "taste" the recipe before making it and sometimes I just know that things need to be changed. I'm always happy to get good recipes and the folks at Serious Eats often have good ones. So, I took their Vietnamese Chicken recipe and only tweaked it a little bit - I made it less spicy and used less Ginger, and of course, I made it Gluten Free. I also doubled the recipe and cooked the chicken for a longer time as they were big pieces. The marinade ended up being deeply flavored and my only complaint is that it smoked up my kitchen while it was cooking. But then again, that might just be because my oven is acting up. In any case, I got a wonderful smoky flavor out of it, but I did have to turn off my smoke detector!  The result was worth it - the chicken things were delicious!  I served them over what the Vietnamese call Bun or basically a rice noodle salad (it will be the next recipe I post) and it made a wonderful meal.  I think this would be a good recipe for a pork tenderloin too and I will try that soon. As I think the oil in this recipe caused the smoke, I am leaving it as an optional ingredient. This dish was delicious and this recipe is definitely a keeper!

Roast Chicken Things with Vietnamese Flavors from Serious Eats

10 Chicken Thighs - bone in and skin on

1/2 cup Tamari

1/2 cup Fish Sauce

3 Tablespoons fresh Lime Juice

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon minced peeled fresh Ginger

1 - 2 teaspoons Chili Garli Paste

6 Garlic Cloves, minced

Optional:  2 teaspoons grated Lime Zest

4 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Mix the ingredients for the marinade and pour into a large glass baking dish. Put in the Chicken skin side down and marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to several hours.  Halfway through, turn the chicken over. 

Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil and place a wire rack over it. Remove each piece of Chicken from the marinade and place it on the rack. Place the baking pan in the oven and cook for about 40 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees. Transfer chicken to a serving plate.

Five Element Analysis

Chicken belongs to the Wood Element and the Lime Juice adds even more. The marinade contains Tamari and Fish Sauce, which contributes the Water Element and the Ginger and Garlic add in the Metal Element. The Brown Sugar brine int eh Earth Element and the Chili Garlic Paste makes sure that the Fire Element is also present. Serving this dish with a Salad  (Bunh) with Lettuce for the Fire Element and Cucumber for the Earth Element will make it a balanced meal!