Grilled Marinated Vietnamese Chicken

It’s that time of year again when any meal sounds so much more appealing coming off of the grill.  Mingling with the scent of a fresh-mown lawn and newly turned mulch, nothing goes better with a post-yard work beer than something tasty for dinner off of the grill.  Since BD loves to mess with the coals in the Big Green Egg, I generally defer,  I do like to play with fire though – a family trait so I hear – and this grilled Vietnamese chicken recipe is my go-to favorite.

Years ago I would look forward to reading Kim O’Donnel’s column and chats in the food section of The Washington Post.  She was (and still is though no longer at the Post) a solid cook whose recipes usually had a little twist and always produced good results.  This marinade is adapted from her recipe which sounded just too wacky to pass up without giving it a whirl.  Sugar and lime (think margarita) veer far East with fish sauce and tons of ground pepper.  On the hunt for a non-red-sauced barbecue chicken recipe and going on blind faith that Kim wouldn’t steer me wrong, I tried what has become a perennial family favorite. A fling turned committed relationship. Who says that only happens in romance novels.  Pfft.

Feeling the need to eschew animal flesh or just want to add something from the garden to the mix?  This is fabulous as a marinade for firm veggies – eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash. I bet even mushroom would be terrific though I haven’t tried yet.  Thinking here as I type that a drive-by the Piggly Wiggly for some portabellas may be in order.

This recipe doubles and even triples nicely. It can be used on any chicken parts though if you’re going boneless skinless, I’d make sure the marination time doesn’t exceed four hours.

Have fun grilling and don’t forget to have your fire extinguisher handy.  Don’t ask.

Step 1:  Collect your motley cast of characters.

Step 2: Everyone into the pool (except the chicken)!  Two caveats: First, lime juice only comes out of limes.  It does not come out of plastic containers, glass bottles, or, the gods forbid, packets of powder.  Second, this quantity of black pepper does not lend itself to showcasing old, tired questionable dust from a can.  Fresh peppercorns from the grinder only, if you please.

Step 3: Add the chicken and thoroughly smoosh it around.  Cover in plastic wrap, toss it in the fridge and go find the bottle opener!  Of course, if you’re thinking ahead, you can get the marinated chicken into the fridge the night before and you’ll be that far ahead.  Vegetables, however, need no more than an hour or so in the pool or you’ll have mush.

Step 4: When you’re ready to grill, get the fire steady at 350-375 F.  An aside, a PSA really, from our resident grill master: DO NOT EVER use lighter fluid or charcoal that’s got it built in.  Use a chimney starter with charcoal or a gas grill.  You never get rid of that fuel taste.  So, there you go.

Step 5: Grill the vegetables first (if you’ve got them), turning every few minutes until you’ve got your preferred char (I let ’em rip).

Step 6: Grill the chicken starting with skin-side down, turning every 10-15 minutes until done.  Depending on grill temp, this is 35-45 minutes.  Because there is oil in the marinade, you can keep a spritz bottle of water nearby to tame flare ups.  Beer does the same thing but, um, that’s sort of wasteful.

Enjoy!