Grilled chicken served with lam rice is one of the famous mountain specialties of the Central Highlanders. According to local people, the dish comes from the Ede ethnic group in Buon Don, Dak Lak. Later, the specialty was prepared by the Central Highlanders with many different versions.
Grilled chicken must be jogging chicken, for firm meat, thin crispy skin after grilling will not make diners feel fat. Chicken for guests is usually silk chicken weighing only about 1 kg. Through preliminary processing, whole chicken is marinated with spices such as lemongrass, red onion, garlic puree, five flavors, honey, pepper, fish sauce, salt and forest leaves... before clamping bamboo sticks and baking.
The cook must return the chicken very evenly to cook the meat through, and constantly add charcoal to ensure the fire is just right.
Around the homemade ember stove, chickens sandwiching bamboo sticks sizzled, the smell of cooked meat fragrant with smoke filled a corner of the yard. In addition to chicken, grilled wild boar meat is also a popular item on the menu of mountain restaurants. Grilled chicken is indispensable for a cup of é leaf salt, a leaf with an aroma almost like basil. The dipping cup of salt is not too fussy, but it adds flavor to the chicken.
To cook lam rice, the chef chooses a young bamboo tube, chops the long section and then washes it, pours the rice a section from the mouth of the tube to leave room for the rice to bloom and seal it with forest leaves. Delicious rice is a type of glutinous rice with small, elongated and flexible grains that are fragrant when ripe.
When the chicken exudes its aroma, the rice tubes are buried in high heat for about 45-60 minutes until the rice is cooked.
The rice is cooked, the chef chops the bamboo tube in pieces, and puts it on a plate for guests. The Highlanders did not split the outer shell, but left the bamboo tube intact. When enjoying, you separate the outer bamboo peel to see the fragrant gummy folds. You can dip the rice with peanut salt, made from roasted peanuts, salt and a little sugar.
Eateries often serve whole grilled chicken, for guests to tear their own chicken to enjoy. The grilled chicken is firm, sweet, rich and smells of spices mixed with honey. Dip the meat into a cup of salt, your taste buds will be "exploded" by the pungent taste of é leaves.
The most popular eateries are located in Pleiku (Gia Lai), notably near the Tonle Sap Lake. The attractive addresses also build a space bold cultural of the Central Highlands. You will sit and enjoy food in stilt houses, on walls hanging gongs. Restaurants usually sell from noon to late evening, the price of each grilled chicken served with lam rice is about 300,000 VND.
Some other grilled chicken shops: Gia Lai Basalt grilled chicken with lam rice, Ksor Hnbao artisan shop, Ia Gui restaurant.
According to VnE