Ga Xao Sa Ot and Goi Du Du (Vietnamese)

So tonight we had Lemongrass Chilli Chicken and a Green Papaya Salad with rice.  Even though I used Luke Nguyen's recipe for the chicken, I saw Helen's video (from Danang Cuisine) and she says it's one of her favourite ways to eat chicken.  I'd say it's a sweet dish, not just because it has a sweet taste but because the lemongrass and coconut juice gives it a sweet personality!  The papaya salad on the other hand is a little sour, fragrant because of the basil, fresh and crunchy.  I wasn't sure I liked it at first, but now I'm hooked!

First, here is the recipe for "Lemongrass Chilli Chicken" from the book " The Food of a Vietnam" by Luke Nguyen!

(serves 4 - I made only a half recipe on the picture)

Marinade for 500g deboned and skinned chicken:

-3tbsp fish sauce

-1 1/2tbsp sugar

-2 white parts lemongrass, finely chopped, half reserved

-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped, half reserved

-2 long red chillies, finely chopped, half reserved

-3tbsp vegetable oil

-250mL young coconut juice

-1/2 onion, cut into wedges

- coriander or parsley sprigs for presentation

Mix together the fish sauce, sugar, half of the lemongrass, half the garlic and half the chillies in a bowl, then add chicken and marinate 2 hours to overnight.

In a wok, heat oil on medium and cook what's left of lemongrass, chillies and garlic until fragrant (about a minute) then turn to medium-high and toss in chicken until there's no more pink.

Add onion and coconut juice, cover and cook for about 7 minutes, until the sauce is half reduced (keep some juice, it's so good on your rice), then plate and decorate with the herbs.

As suggested, I served it with rice.  I cook 1 cup of rice, I fill one cup with jasmine rice, then remove 2tbsp and replace them with 1tbsp black forbidden rice and 1tbsp cargo thai red cargo rice.

I also served it with this easy green papaya salad that I improvised from watching many videos!

(serves as many as you'll make)

-some shredded green (not ripe) papaya

-some shredded carrots (just to add colour, like a rotisserie coleslaw)

-some thinly sliced basil

-some peanuts

-some garlic chips

-some fried shallots

-red chilli, finely chopped (I used a long red chilli so it's a little less spicy than a bird's eye chilli since my chicken dish was also full of chilli)

The sauce:

-3tbsp fish sauce

-3tbsp rice or white vinegar

-2-3tsp sugar

(To shred the papaya and carrot, Vietnamese either use a special tool I didn't find today or, you can use a sharp nice and kind of hit the papaya vertically along the height, do a lot of cuts, then use a vegetable peeler and it makes long nice strips.  Repeat until you have enough papaya.  That's the technique I used on the picture, except I only had a half papaya so the strips are short :( .)

Mix the sauce so the sugar is dissolved.  Toss the papaya, carrot, basil, peanuts, garlic chips and shallots together with your hands.  Add dressing a little at a time, mix with your hands and test.  When it's to your taste, plate with your hands again (apparently the hands action is really important!) and top with chillies, more shallots and more peanuts.  Voilà!