What is clay-pot roasted chicken?
Clay pot roasted chicken is a specialty in some regions of Asia and Vietnam, including Saigon. Any restaurant selling clay pot roasted chicken is always attracted many people.
The idea originated from India and now it is popular in many countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Western countries. Besides being an appetizer, clay pot roasted chicken can also be a traditional Indian main course when dinner has it with naan bread. Similarly, Vietnamese people have chicken with rice or bread as a main course or sometimes even as a beer snack.
How to roast chicken in clay pot
The chicken is marinated with a combination of five ingredients: garlic, shallot, oyster sauce, and honey. The longer it’s allowed to marinate, the better the chicken will taste. After that, the chicken will be scraped clean of the shallots and garlic stuck to the skin before being put into the clay pot. This is to prevent the chicken from getting burned. Once that is done, the chicken will be hung using hooks around the clay pot.
In particular, 10 chickens will be roasted in one giant clay pot. The pot is then covered on top to retain the heat and the juice of the chicken inside, without allowing it to evaporate. Moreover, the chicken will be cooked evenly thanks to the heat in the clay pot. You will only have to wait about 30-40 minutes for your meal.
How to eat clay pot roasted chicken
At this restaurant, beside the roasted chickens, you also get served bread, pickled papaya, Vietnamese coriander, and a delicious apricot sauce. Eating this dish is not so complex. First, dip a piece of bread into the sweet and sour apricot sauce. Stuff this piece in your mouth and then tear a piece of chicken off and eat it with. Another choice is to have the chicken just by itself with the sauce or the delicious mix of pepper, salt, and lemon.
Where to find the best clay pot roasted chicken?
1. O O O Roasted chicken – 111 Dinh Tien Hoang, Binh Thanh District
O O O Roasted chicken is well-known for the variety of flavor of roasted chicken available there – the Mediterranean, Mexican, black pepper, passion fruit, and so on. It costs about 160,000 VND for a roasted chicken. The restaurant opens from 11:00 AM to 11:00 PM since people in Saigon rarely or even never have time for roasted chicken in the morning.
2. Viet Huong clay-pot roasted chicken – 449A3 Le Quang Dinh, Binh Thanh District
The best clay pot roasted chicken comes from Viet Huong restaurant although this is not a fancy restaurant at all. Spaces are filled with some low tables and chairs that we often see in typical Vietnamese restaurants, however, the hygiene is definitely good. The price is 130,000 VND (about 6.5USD) for a whole clay pot roasted chicken that can feed up to 5 people.