This roasted chicken dish is originated from the Ê Đê people in Buôn Đôn (also known as Bản Đôn) in Đắk Lắk, a province in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. So this dish is called Gà nướng Buôn Đôn, or Gà nướng Bản Đôn, and another name for this dish is gà sa lửa which literally means chicken falling into fire.
The original meat for this dish is junglefowl, but in modern life, the dish is adapted with free-range chicken so that the meat is soft but not friable. Marinated chicken is roasted with some lime leaves and is served with a condiment made of salt, chili pepper, lemongrass and a specific white sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum var. pilosum, Vietnamese: é) leaves.
Traditional way of roasting is by using a handmade bamboo food clip over hot charcoal. Alternately, you can adapt the recipe with your electric oven. The roasted chicken is often served with bamboo rice (rice cooked by roasting in a bamboo tube).
In a mortar, grind green bird's eye chilis, salt and sweet basil. Mix the paste with lemongrass juice, and some honey. Spatchcock the chicken by spreading the legs out and pressing the backbone. Rub the chicken inside out with the marinade for 30 mins.
Clip the chicken with some lime leaves using bamboo sticks and roast the chicken until golden brown. If you roast with an oven, wrap the chicken in a tin foil with some lime leaves. Roasting over charcoal may takes 2-3 hours, but about 1 hour in oven.
In a mortar, grind green bird's eye chilis, coarse salt, lemongrass slices, some MSG (if you wish) and some sweet basil leaves.
You may grind the lime leaves in the marinade paste.
Vietnamese cuisine is the method of cooking, the principle of mixing spices and the general dining habits of all Vietnamese people in Vietnam. With a unique geography, climate, and cultural exchange, the cuisine of Vietnam is extremely diverse and rich. The characteristics of Vietnamese cuisine is the focus on the freshness, so Vietnamese dishes are generally perceived as delicious and healthy.
