Vietnamese Grilled Chicken

This Vietnamese Grilled Chicken recipe is so luscious. With just a few ingredients, this spice rub makes your taste buds sing! Perfect for banh mi’s, noodle bowls or just over rice, this garlic pepper chicken with a hint of sweet is perfect for any meal!

 

Vietnamese recipes are some of my favorites and this simple Vietnamese grilled chicken recipe is no exception.

Whether made with boneless chicken breasts or boneless thighs, this easy Vietnamese chicken is perfect over white rice, rice noodles or even sliced and served on a Vietnamese banh mi.

Never had a banh mi? Well, it’s high time you fix that! This Vietnamese style sub sandwich is one great sandwich.

Perfect for summer, the marinade ingredients needed are super simple.

What 6 ingredients are in this Vietnamese chicken marinade?

Yes, you need fish sauce and I prefer to buy a Vietnamese brand instead of a Thai brand. I think this gives the chicken a more authentic flavor profile.

Sugar. Brown sugar or white.

Garlic. Because all good things have garlic, right?

Shallots. Shallots are getting easier to find at the grocery and they do give a distinct flavor that is a bit different than an onion. A bit sweeter than an onion, though if you can’t find them, substitute with a yellow onion.

Light soy sauce is what is used in this recipe. It is not as thick and has less of a soy flavor than dark soy sauce. Often it is labeled as “thin” or “superior”.

Fresh ground black pepper is essential to this spice paste. Use a good 5 or 6 turns of the pepper mill for maximum flavor.

Lemongrass Chicken?

Optional: Some fresh lemongrass. If you have it and want to use it, by all means stir in one stalk of just the tender white core, chopped fine.

Or keep a tube of lemongrass paste in your fridge and use about 1/6th of the tube or to taste!

This Vietnamese grilled chicken recipe  then becomes a super duper Vietnamese lemongrass chicken recipe!

Directly grill the chicken on a gas grill over medium high heat. If you’d rather thread the chicken onto skewers and make chicken skewers, that’s OK, too!

Make sure you oil or spray your grill with cooking spray and this paste covered chicken does have a tendency to stick. Not that that hurts the flavor or anything!

I always serve this chicken with pickled carrots even if I am not making Vietnamese sandwiches.

It is also great with nuoc cham as a dipping sauce even if you aren’t making a rice noodle bowl.

However-a vermicelli noodle bowl or a banh mi or even rice bowls are great with fresh herbs such as fresh cilantro, Thai basil, and then a squeeze of lime juice and some chopped peanuts.

Add a little hot red pepper flakes in the form of fresh, sliced jalapenos and this becomes one of my most healthy recipes.

I love Asian cuisine, especially Vietnamese.

My favorite sandwich is the Vietnamese Banh Mi. By now they are everywhere, except at your local Subway. Boy, are they missing out.

In Denver they can be found over on Federal Blvd which is my not so secret stomping ground. I love Federal.

It makes me feel adventurous but I don’t have to show my passport when crossing over. I love the thrill of discovery and the excitement it brings.

And that is how I found this sandwich at Ba Lee – a tiny sandwich place stuck in a nondescript strip center.

A true piece of heaven if heaven was so easy to find. 

A banh mi sandwich is something I love. Truly. If you haven’t had one, don’t.

Otherwise you will crave them forever. And I mean forever. They are that good.

Few foods combine the sweet and salty and spicy better than this.

Not to mention the crunchy veggies and the warmth of the bread.

Add in the crinkle of the butcher paper and the price of $3.50. Well, I think the price has gone up to $4.50 since I first posted this in 2013.

And did I mention the beauty of the sandwich?

The dark greens, of the lettuce and jalapenos, the orange and white carrots, a slice of cucumber.  My mouth is watering just thinking of it.

Some of the best Vietnamese cuisine is found in Denver. I love it all.

But the reason I love the banh mi is because of its simplicity and the fact that you can cram so much flavor onto a little bit of bread.

The hardest part to get right is the bread. Banh mi bread is really a French baguette. But it is a French baguette made by the Vietnamese. It is not so crispy on the outside that it hurts your mouth when taking a bite. The interior is tender and soft and for a Banh Mi it is always served warm.

Do yourself and go explore some Asian markets. My favorite in Denver is off of Federal and Alameda-the Pacific Ocean Market Place.

While there pick up some Vietnamese rolls made for Banh mi’s, some fish sauce-I prefer 3 Crabs or Red Boat; you can even buy the carrot salad there if you choose.

I could go on and on about what I buy and perhaps I should do a post on just that, but in the meantime, have fun exploring on your own. (They also have a great inexpensive kitchen shop where I buy some of my white dishes and small bowls.)

This Vietnamese grilled chicken is great kept on hand and makes for a great dinner party. Just set up a dinner bar with all the accompaniments and let guests build their own bowls or banh mi’s.

However you choose to eat this simple Vietnamese grilled chicken recipe, I promise your taste buds will thank you!

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