Vietnamese cooks roast chickens in three ways: on the stove top in a pan with a little liquid for succulence, over charcoal for charred smokiness, or in the oven for crispy skin. The method mostly depends on the kind of heat source available. For example, ovens were traditionally luxurious home appliances in Vietnam. In 1966, my mom’s oven was a metal box indirectly heated by hot charcoal set underneath and/or on top. When the Americans came, she was able to salvage a modern oven for her Saigon home kitchen. After we arrived in America, Mom delighted in roasting this easy garlicky chicken for our family. With a reliable oven and affordable chicken, we ate ga ro-ti regularly with rice for dinner, sliced up and stuffed into a baguette sandwich (page 34) for lunch or a snack, and arranged atop sticky rice (page 246) for breakfast or lunch. When preparing ga ro-ti (which takes its name from the French term for roasting), use the more succulent parts—drumsticks, thighs, wings—for the best flavor.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 4 to 6 with 2 or 3 other dishes
Ingredients
Marinade
Preparation
Step 1
To make the marinade, in a bowl large enough to accommodate the chicken, combine the garlic, sugar, salt, pepper, Maggi sauce, and oil and mix well. Add the chicken pieces and use your fingers to massage the marinade into the flesh, distributing the seasonings as evenly as possible. When possible, peel back the skin to get some marinade between the flesh and skin. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours for the best flavor.
Step 2
Thirty minutes before roasting, remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and put the chicken pieces, skin side down, on the sheet. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400°F.
Step 3
Put the chicken in the oven. After about 15 minutes, you will hear gentle sizzling. At that point, using tongs, turn the pieces over and continue to roast until the skin is nicely browned and crispy and the juices run clear when a piece is poked in the meatiest part with a toothpick, bamboo skewer, or knife tip. The roasting time depends on the size of the pieces, but in general it will take 40 to 60 minutes total (including the initial 15 minutes). If a lot of fat and juices accumulate in the pan during roasting, remove the chicken from the pan, pour off the fat, and then quickly return the chicken and continue roasting. Serve the chicken hot, warm, or at room temperature.
