Kitchen Table Kibitzing 5/10/2014: Gà Lúc Lắc

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The dish I'm making tonight is a chicken twist on the popular Vietnamese bò lúc lắc, which is essentially seared beef (bò) that is cooked by "shaking" it in the wok (lúc lắc means "shaking"). This is a dish that is perhaps even more popular in Vietnamese restaurants in the United States, where one is much more likely than in Vietnam to find nice, tender cuts of beef. A swanky Vietnamese restaurant here in Houston, for example, offers bò lúc lắc as chopped filet mignon tossed in a red wine sauce for $17 a portion. Perhaps more American than Vietnamese, but hey. Many Vietnamese restaurants offer the chicken version, gà lúc lắc, alongside the steak-lover dish. I've already made bò lúc lắc, so when faced with a bunch of leftover chicken thighs in my freezer, I thought I'd take a stab at the gà. I'm basically sticking to my bò recipe, with a few differences that I got from The Blind Cook that create some really awesome flavors in the chicken.

We don't need very many ingredients: just some good Vietnamese fish sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, salt, sugar, soy sauce, a shallot, 5 fresh garlic cloves, a lemon, and freshly ground black pepper. In addition, of course, to about 1 1/2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs. If you want to use another part of the chicken, feel free, but I'm a thigh guy all the way.

The first step is marinating the chicken, which you'll need to cut into about 1-inch chunks. For the marinade, add to the chicken the chopped shallot, minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of soy sauce. Stir well and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (closer to 90 minutes is better).
While we're waiting on the marinade, we're going to need a very simple vinaigrette dressing to drizzle over the meat when it's done, in addition to a citrusy dipping sauce. For the vinaigrette, simply mix 1/4 cup of rice vinegar with 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 tablespoon of salt. The dipping sauce requires the juice of one lemon mixed with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. These two sauces are going to make the already-delicious chicken that much more delicious.

Sometime during the course of my chicken marinating, I decided the dish needed something else. Finally, I realized that what was missing was the nice, sweet crunch of a julienned red bell pepper. So I also added that to the mix before I cooked it.

When the chicken is done marinating, heat a wok or a large pan over high heat. My wok, unfortunately, has been decommissioned, so I'm going to have to make do with my Dutch oven, meaning the lúc lắc is going to be replaced with stirring. That's okay, though--the flavor will still be there. You'll want to get your wok or pan very hot before you drop that chicken in. Stir or "shake" until the chicken is cooked through. With bò lúc lắc, the point is to get a nice sear on the outside of the beef, leaving a rare or medium-rare center. Obviously, we can't do that with chicken, so it's going to take longer in the pan. Also, you're going to want to cook in small batches so the pan is not overcrowded. It took me three batches for this amount of chicken.

When the chicken is cooked, plate up and drizzle that vinaigrette over it, adding layers of sweetness, sourness, and saltiness to the meat. Eat it with some jasmine rice, and be sure to use that dipping sauce. It's also common to eat this with watercress and tomatoes, for which the vinaigrette would be perfect. Mmm-mmm-mmm. First try at gà lúc lắc: success!

	Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate. Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.