Vietnamese Steamed Chicken with Fish Sauce (Gà Hấp Mắm Nhĩ)

Steamed chicken with fish sauce (Gà hấp mắm nhĩ) is a simple yet delicious Southern Vietnamese dish that highlights the natural sweetness of chicken enhanced by the deep umami of mắm nhĩ, the first-press, premium-grade fish sauce.

In this dish, we cook a whole chicken gently in an aromatic sauce infused with ginger, shallots, garlic, black peppercorns, and scallions. The fish sauce mixture not only seasons the chicken but also creates a savory glaze as it reduces, coating the skin in a glossy golden hue. The reduced sauce can be served on the side for dipping or drizzled over the chicken when eating.

For the best result, I highly recommend using good quality fish sauce. In Vietnam, “mắm nhĩ” is the first extract of fermented anchovies and salt and considered the purest and highest quality fish sauce. When shopping, look for brands that list only anchovies and salt as ingredients, such as Red Boat brand.

The chicken will become tender, juicy and fragrant after steaming. I often add fresh green peppercorns and slivered kaffir lime leaves to the sauce for extra aroma. If you cannot find these two ingredients, you can substitute green peppercorns with more black peppercorns or Sichuan peppercorns, and kaffir lime leaves with bruised lemongrass.

This recipe is fairly easy with the only tricky part being spatchcocking (or butterflying) the whole chicken just like in this lemongrass roast chicken recipe. Doing so will allow for shorter cooking time and more even cooking. You will need a good pair of poultry shears to cut out the backbone. Then lay the bird breast side up and push down firmly to break the wishbone and make the chicken lay flat.

You will also need a deep pan or braiser with a tight-fitting lid large enough to fit the spatchcocked chicken. It shouldn’t be too deep since we will need to spoon the sauce to baste the chicken near the end. I used my Staub braiser in the photo and it worked great.

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Vietnamese Steamed Chicken with Fish Sauce (Gà Hấp Mắm Nhĩ)

Gà hấp mắm nhĩ is a simple yet delicious Southern Vietnamese dish that highlights the natural sweetness of chicken enhanced by the deep umami of quality fish sauce. The meat will be tender and fragrant while the fish sauce mixture will create a savory glaze as it reduces.

Author: Sophie Pham

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Prep: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Cook: 30 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

US Customary – Grams

• 1 whole chicken (about 2.5-3 lbs or 1.2-1.4kg)
• ½ teaspoon lightly crushed black peppercorns
• 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, thinly sliced (about 1 oz or 30g)
• 1 oz green peppercorns (See Notes for substitutes)
• 1 oz shallots, peeled and lightly smashed (about 4-5 medium shallots)
• 0.5 oz garlic, peeled and lightly smashed (about 4-5 medium cloves)
• 4-5 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced (See Notes for substitutes)
• 5-6 cilantro roots (optional)
• 1½ cups water
• 1.5 oz scallions, cut in half in length

For the Sauce

• 4 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1½ tablespoons oyster sauce
• ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons roasted sesame oil, divided

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Instructions

 

• Spatchcock/Butterfly the Chicken: lay the chicken breast side down and use poultry shears to cut out the backbone. Flip the chicken over and use your palm to press down firmly over the breast so that the chicken lays flat.
• Mix all ingredients in For the Sauce section to form the seasoning liquid; reserve 1 tbsp sesame oil for finishing later. Use half of the mixture to marinate the chicken, both the outside as well as inside. Set aside to marinate up to an hour.
• Heat a large deep pan or braiser over medium heat. Add the crushed black peppercorns and dry-toast briefly until fragrant.
• Add ginger, shallots, garlic, green peppercorns, and lime leaves. Stir-fry for 4–5 minutes until aromatic.
• Pour in the remaining prepared fish sauce mixture along with 1½ cups water. Add the cilantro roots if using and bring it to a simmer. Skim off any foam.
• Add the chicken along with all the marinating liquid to the pan, breast side up. Let the sauce boil and spoon the sauce over the chicken. Cover the pan tightly with a lid and steam for about 15 minutes or longer if your chicken is larger.
• Open the lid and increase the heat to medium high. Use a spoon to constantly baste the chicken with the sauce (focusing on pouring the sauce over the drumsticks and breasts) while reducing the sauce. This may take about 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is reduced.
• Brush the remaining sesame oil over the chicken skin. Then scatter the reserved scallions on top. Turn off the heat and cover the pan for 5-10 minutes to let the scallions wilt and finish cooking gently.
• Remove the lid and let the chicken rest for about 5 minutes before chopping into serving pieces.
• Strain the reduced sauce. Brush some sauce over the chicken and divide the remaining sauce into small bowls for dipping. Arrange the wilted scallions over the chicken pieces and serve.

Notes

If you can’t find green peppercorns, you can use more black peppercorns or throw in some Sichuan peppercorns. For kaffir lime leaves, you can replace with 2-3 bruised lemongrass stalks.

Adjust steaming and basting time as needed depending on the size of your chicken. You can use a meat thermometer to make sure the chicken is cooked through.

You can carve the chicken to serve in Western-style if you don’t want to chop it into Asian-style pieces. Then transfer the sauce to a gravy boat/saucer to pour over the meat. This dish can go well with white rice, steamed rice or potatoes.

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Vietnamese

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Make It A Meal

Here are some recipes I like to serve this steamed chicken dish with:

• Lotus root soup with goji berries and jujubes
• Stir-fried cabbage with dried shrimp
• Asian carrot salad
• Seasoned water spinach