Hoi An – A historical town
Hoi An is an ancient town located in central Vietnam, and a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is well known for its well preserved historic district with the covered “Japanese Bridge” dating back to the 16th -17th century.
Its charm is mainly displayed at night when many colorful lanterns illuminate this historical town.
The former commercial port of Hoi An offers endless sights, from lantern decorated fish boats to palm-fringed beaches, to farmers in conical hats harvesting rice.
Hoi An’s market is a bustling place where all types of fresh produce can be found, as well as handicrafts and various knick-knacks.
At the market, there are many food stalls selling delicious local snacks.
Hoi An is known as a gastronomical center and cooking classes are very popular with visitors.
Hoi An Food
Hoi An is hailed as the “banh mi capital of Vietnam”, according to CNN. Indeed the banh mi – a type of Vietnamese sandwich, consisting of a French baguette, pâté, meats and fresh herbs – is so delicious in Hoi An, as a special sauce is added. For this sauce recipe, click here.
Other specialties are Cao lầu, consisting of rice noodles, meat, greens, bean sprouts, and herbs, most commonly served with a small amount of broth and mi quang which is a dish of yellow noodles with pork and minced crab or shrimp.
Hoi An Chicken Rice
The signature dish is Com Ga Hoi An, or Chicken Rice Hoi An style. It’s a really delicious dish of poached chicken mixed with Rau Ram, a fragrant herb, and sliced onions, served with turmeric rice. It’s so simple to make, and the key is how to perfectly cook the chicken. I have described in the recipe how to perfectly poach a chicken. You can use the same method for many other Asian poached chicken dishes, including Pho Ga (Chicken Noodles soup), just omit the turmeric.
The distinctive ingredient is fresh Rau Ram or Vietnamese coriander, which is available from Asian markets. If you can’t find Rau Ram, you can substitute with Thai basil or coriander, but the flavor would be different.
I serve Hoi An Chicken Rice with stir fried vegetable for a balanced meal, but you can serve it on its own, with sliced cucumbers, pickled julienne carrots and daikon or a Vietnamese salad.
Some people serve a dipping sauce made with soy sauce or fish sauce on the side, but I feel that it’s not necessary. The dish is so delectable just as is!
Hoi An Chicken Rice
Equipment
- Rice cooker – Stock pot
Ingredients
- 1 Whole Chicken or 4 chicken legs with thighs
- 2 onions
- 1 inch fresh ginger, sliced
- 2 stalks scallions (green onion) – 1 stalk of green onion tied in a knot for the broth – the other, chopped finely to sprinkle over the soup and the dish.
- 2 cups uncooked Jasmine rice
- 1/4 cup uncooked sticky rice
- 1 cup Rau Ram (Vietnamese coriander)
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tspn vinegar
- 1 tspn sugar
- 1 tspn fish sauce
Instructions
- In large pot, add 6 cups water, sliced ginger, 1 quartered onion and 1 stalk of scallion (tied in a knot), the turmeric, a pinch of salt. Bring to boil over high heat. Lower the chicken into the pot and bring to boil again. Skim any impurities. As soon as the water boils, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes (make sure the water is not boiling, just simmering). After 10 minutes, turn off the heat and let the chicken continue to cook in the warm pot for 15 minutes. Test that the chicken is well cooked by piercing the thick part of the thigh and if juice runs clear, it's cooked.
- Remove the chicken from the pot and add it to a bowl of iced water for 5 minutes to firm up the meat and halt the cooking. Put the chicken on a chopping board. When cool enough to handle, remove the bones. Add the bones back to the pot and cook for another 30 minutes, to make the broth. Use part of the broth to cook the rice, and the remainder as a broth served on the side.
- Shred the chicken meat. Set aside to cool (or cover and refrigerate).
- While the chicken is cooking, wash and dry the Rau Ram, slice finely. Set aside
- Slice the remaining onion very thinly. Soak the sliced onion in the vinegar mixed with sugar and nuoc mam.
- To cook the rice – Rinse the rice until water is clear. Add the rice to rice cooker and the chicken broth quantity as per your rice cooker instructions. For my rice cooker, I add 2 and 1/4 cup of broth. Cook as per the rice cooker instructions.
- To assemble: Mix the shredded chicken with the drain sliced onions, add salt & pepper to taste. Just before serving, add the Rau Ram (Vietnamese coriander) and mix. Serve with the cooked chicken rice. Scoop the remaining broth into small bowls, sprinkle chopped scallions, to serve on the side.
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[…] Enjoy! Another Hoi An specialty is its Chicken Rice. Click here for the recipe. […]