Vietnamese Clay Pot Chicken

This is a delicious and well known Vietnamese dish which you can prepare in your own home. Many traditional Vietnamese recipes are prepared in a clay pot, which is first soaked in water before being placed in a cold oven. As the pot heats up in the oven, tiny water particles are released, causing a pressure-steaming effect to cook the food. The result? Intensified flavour and tenderness, retention of nutrients and vitamins, and a wonderful aroma when the lid is removed. If using your clay pot for the first time, submerge it and the lid overnight in cold water, then proceed with the recipe. Thereafter the pot and lid need only be soaked for 15 minutes prior to using. It is important to use an unglazed clay pot, not a terra cotta baking pot with glazed interior and unglazed exterior. When removing the hot clay pot from the oven, always set it on a cloth pad or towel rather than a cold surface, or the sudden change in temperature may crack the pot. Preparation time for this recipe does not include soaking the pot or the time needed to marinate the chicken.

• Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 2  lbs chicken thigh fillets, halved
• 2  small yellow onions, quartered
• 12  ounces baby bok choy, chopped coarsely
• 1⁄2 cup  chicken stock
• 4  ounces  fresh shiitake mushrooms, halved (optional)

• Marinade

• 4  garlic cloves, crushed
• 1  tablespoon  vietnamese fish sauce, plus
• 1  teaspoon  vietnamese fish sauce
• 1  tablespoon soy sauce, plus
• 1  teaspoon soy sauce
• 1  tablespoon hoisin sauce, plus
• 1  teaspoon hoisin sauce
• 2  tablespoons lime juice, plus
• 2  teaspoons lime juice
• 2  tablespoons  finely chopped fresh lemongrass (white part only)

Directions

1. Remove the skin from the chicken.
2. Mix all marinade ingredients together in a large bowl, add the chicken pieces and stir gently.
3. Cover and place in the fridge for at least three hours, but not more than 24 hours.
4. Place chicken, marinade, quartered onions, bok choy and chicken stock into the soaked clay pot, and mix gently.
5. Cover and place the clay pot into a cold oven.
6. Turn oven temperature to 360F - 375F (moderate heat).
7. Bake for 1 hour or until chicken is tender.
8. If using shiitake mushrooms, add 15 minutes before the end of cooking time.