The joy in this dish is in marinade

Roasted chicken is a simple joy. This one is served with a pungent Vietnamese marinade.

This is an edited extract from Viet Kieu by Thi Le with Jia-Yen Lee (Murdoch Books, $55). Photography by Mark Chew.

Roasted chicken is a simple joy. I like using a spatchcock for this dish (but you can use chicken). In this instance, spatchcock refers to both the noun, a younger bird, and the verb, referring to how the bird is splayed out flat.

Try too my prawn & papaya goi.

Grilled spatchcock is both easy and flavoursome and you can substitute chicken for spatchcock if you’d prefer a bigger bird.

This is an edited extract from Viet Kieu by Thi Le with Jia-Yen Lee (Murdoch Books, $55). Photography by Mark Chew.

Barbecued Vietnamese spatchcock

Ingredients

1 × 400g spatchcock

Marinade

• 100g red Asian shallots
• 20g ginger
• 20g fresh turmeric
• 20g garlic cloves
• 30ml fish sauce
• 30ml light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons raw sugar
• 1 teaspoon cracked white pepper
• 1 teaspoon Chinese five spice
• 1 teaspoon mac khén or native Australian pepper

Method

1. Pat the spatchcock dry with paper towel. Place the bird, breast side down, on a chopping board, with the neck facing towards you. Using a pair of kitchen scissors, split the spatchcock into two pieces, down the breastplate and backbone.
2. Peel the shallots, ginger, turmeric and garlic cloves and roughly chop. Place in a blender or food processor and blitz until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl, add the remaining marinade ingredients and mix together well. Add the spatchcock, gently tossing to coat. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 4–6 hours.
3. Bring a barbeuce grill up to medium heat, grill for 8–10 minutes, flipping the spatchcock to ensure even cooking on the surface. Rest before serving.

Serves 1-2