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Grilled Vietnamese Chicken (Ga Nuong)

Adapted from Kim O’Donnel
Course Mains
Cuisine Asian

Ingredients
  

  • ½ tsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 tsp fresh coarsely ground black pepper
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tbsp fresh-squeezed lime juice
  • ¼ c canola oil
  • 4 lb bone-in chicken thighs or parts of your choice skin on/bone in preferably though if careful with the grilling, boneless, skinless thighs work well in a pinch.
  • 1 lb assorted firm-fleshed vegetables e..g., squashes, eggplant

Instructions
 

Marinade:

  • In a nonreactive container (bowl or Pyrex casserole) large enough to hold the chicken, combine all ingredients except the chicken and combine thoroughly.  Add the chicken and use your hands to thoroughly coat each piece.  Cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 4 hours and up to 12 (though I’ve gone 24 hours in the fridge with no noticeable loss of texture to the chicken thighs).

Grilling:

  • Prepare a medium hot grill (350-375).  Remove chicken from the marinade and discard the marinade.  Place the chicken skin-side down on the grill and cook 10 minutes.  Check for hot spots (darker color) and turn skin-side up, rotating chicken from hot to cool spots and vice versa.  After 15 minutes, turn skin-side down, once again moving from hot to cooler spots.  After 10 minutes, flip again, also moving hot to cooler spots.  At this point you can check for doneness; internal temperature should be 165F.
  • If you want to grill vegetables, prepare marinade as above and marinate cleaned cut vegetables for about an hour.  Grill at 350-375 until desired doneness; could be from 10-25 minutes depending on your char preference. 

Notes

If grilling both chicken and vegetables, grill the vegetables first and set aside; they are quite terrific at room temperature.
Keyword chicken, grilling, marinade, vegetables