Luke Nguyen

Chicken Chargrilled with Five-Spice and Turmeric

Gà Nướng Ngũ Vị Hướng

Preparation info

  • Makes

    12

    Skewers

    • Difficulty

      Easy

Appears in

top 1000The Songs of Sapa

The Songs of Sapa

By Luke Nguyen

Published 2009

  • About

I SIT AMONGST A CROWD OF LOCALS ON A BUSY STREET CORNER NEAR THE HOAN KIEM LAKE. THE STREET STALL HAS A TABLE COVERED WITH VARIETIES OF PREPARED SKEWERS - PRAWNS, SCALLOPS, MUSHROOMS, ASPARAGUS, BEEF, EGGPLANT AND THIS FIVE-SPICE TURMERIC CHICKEN. YOU POINT AT WHAT YOU WANT AND THEY COOK IT ON THE SPOT.

Ingredients

  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and pounded using a mortar and pestle
  • 2 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced

Method

In a bowl, combine the onion, garlic, lime leaves, five-spice, turmeric, paprika, sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce and coconut milk. Mix well, then add the chicken, stirring to coat it in the marinade. Stir in the oil, then cover the bowl and place in the fridge to marinate for 2 hours, or overnight for a better flavour.

Soak 12 bamboo skewers in cold water for 30 minutes to prevent them bu