Gà Roti is one of my favorite ways to eat chicken. It's juicy and rich with a savory, slightly sweet sauce full of garlic flavor. While the Roti in Gà Roti stands for rotisserie, this chicken dish is usually not roasted at all. Instead, the chicken is pan fried until the skin is super crispy. Afterwards, the chicken is simmered in coconut water until it's cooked. The end result is moist, succulent chicken with a subtley sweet glaze. There are very few ingredients used (and you can find all of them in a traditional western grocery store), which makes this a GREAT weeknight meal!
I always use chicken thighs to make gà roti, but you can also use chicken leg quarters for a more appetizing look. I've never tried this with chicken breast, which takes a bit longer to cook. I wouldn't recommend using a cut that is boneless or skinless.
This dish also tastes great with sticky rice. Let your chicken rest after cooking and shred it up. Mix cooked sticky rice with the leftover sauce/chicken drippings and then serve with the shredded chicken. This dish is called Xôi Gà! You can also use this chicken as a topping for Xôi Mặn, which I already have a recipe for.
Get the recipe for Xôi Mặn (Vietnamese Savory Sticky Rice) here!
Vietnamese roasted chicken (gà roti): Step-by-step instructions
Marinate the chicken thighs with fish sauce, ground black pepper, garlic and salt. Let these sit for at least 30 minutes. You can do this ahead of time the night before and keep it in the fridge. Let the chicken come to room temperature again before cooking if you do.
Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet on medium-high heat and cook the chicken thighs skin side down for 10-15 minutes until the skin is golden brown and crispy. Resist the urge to flip the chicken over during this time! Let them do their thing in the pan. Brush off some of the minced garlic from the skin before placing in the pan so that it does not burn.
Flip the chicken thighs over and move them to the edges of the pan. Put a spoonful of sugar in the middle of the pan and swirl it around until it caramelizes to a deep brown. The longer you let it caramelize, the deeper and nuttier the flavor will be and the more brown the chicken will be.
Once the sugar has caramelized to your liking, pour in the coconut water. Let the coconut water simmer until it has completely reduced to a thin glaze.
