Ga Ro Ti (Vietnamese Roasted Chicken) ~

I can't help but giggle because, even though I don't know how to pronounce this recipe in Vietnamese, it makes me think of the cook Justin Wilson saying "I gaa-ran-tee it" in his Cajun accent.

This is a recipe I got from Wandering Chopstick's blog, and made some minor adjustments to it - here is her original recipe, which I always recommend trying if you want to know what it REALLY is supposed to taste like, lol. I either never have all the correct ingredients, or can't do it exactly like someone else did, or just something! But it always seems to work...

And it did tonight. I absolutely LOVED this and so did my boys. Jack tasted it and liked it too - my daughter didn't, but last summer she had eaten some Asian food I cooked while she was sick, and it didn't sit well with her - she's had trouble with some of the spices since then. Poor thing. She's missin' out!

OK - here is my version, with the changes being that there's a little more honey than originally called for, and I baked it differently. Also, I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts, although I really wanted to try the thigh/drumstick combo. And since we are a family of 5, I cooked 4 large breasts instead of the 2 called for in the original, so I doubled the recipe initially. I forgot to double the garlic, but I could taste it in there just fine.

Ga Ro Ti (Vietnamese Roasted Chicken)

4 large chicken breasts

2 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons honey

4 teaspoons fish sauce

2 teaspoons Chinese 5-spice powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

4 cloves garlic, finely minced (or pressed)

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until well blended. Pour and rub half the marinade over the 4 chicken breasts as they lay in a shallow baking pan. Flip the breasts and pour/rub the other 1/2 of the marinade over them. Make sure both sides are well covered in marinade. Bake in a 425 degree oven for approx. 25 minutes, flipping over and basting a couple of times. Adjust time depending on thickness of breasts. When the chicken is done (no pink flesh, juices run clear), baste one last time in the marinade left in the pan, and serve.

I sliced my chicken breast, and enjoyed a few slices while I put together a sandwich with the rest. I split a 6 inch whole wheat sub bun and toasted it - then added Miracle Whip (yum!), sliced fresh homegrown cucumbers, fresh spinach leaves, the sliced chicken, sliced black olives, and grated mozzarella cheese. Totally forgot the purple onion in the fridge, but wow, that would have been awesome too. After adding the cheese, I sprinkled some ground black pepper and ground sea salt on it and broiled it til the cheese was melty.

It was amazing. Juicy and succulent, whether on or off the sandwich.