Chao Ga is the epitome of Vietnamese comfort food. It is the equivalent to an American Chicken Noodle Soup in how classic and healing it is to our little Vietnamese bellies growing up. Chao Ga is quite easy to make, but there are some tips and tricks to make your’s even yummier. I’ve often made this for my own family, and my extended youth group families up to 100+ mouths at time. Regardless of how many people you’re feeding or who you’re feeding, the recipe really does stay the same. I don’t omit onions in my chicken salad when I serve it to the kiddos at home or at large church group events, but even the pickiest of eaters will succumb to this delicious bowl of congee and chicken salad.
The three types of chicken:
- The American chicken
- Found at American grocery stores
- Lots of meat
- Mellow flavor
- The walking chicken
- Thinner chickens that are a bit more expensive found at Asian grocers
- Longer/taller (super model chicken compared to an American chicken)
- Are grown on opened farms that allow them to do a lot of walking
- Less meat
- Sweeter broth
- Chicken flavor is much deeper and stronger
- The stewing chicken
- cheap chickens that are so tough, they’re meant for long stewing periods
- Impart a very sweet broth after a long period of stewing
- Great for a deep, rich, and very strong chicken broth
- Small, less meat, meat can be very tough unless stewed for a long period
For congee/rice porridge, if I’m actually sick, and don’t have much of an appetite, I use a stewing chicken. 27 minutes in the Instant Pot at high pressure with natural release with 3/4-1 cup of rice and a few slices of ginger, some dried mung beans if I need the extra protein — and I’m set! If I’m craving congee, I use the walking chicken. I usually try and stay away from the American chicken unless I’m doing a rotisserie, curry, or fried chicken.
Walking chicken congee/side salad (Chao Ga and Goi Ga)
Ingredients for your Chao Ga:
– Rice
– Slices of ginger
– 1000 year old egg (tea eggs/black eggs–optional)
– Chicken + broth (full fat — don’t skim the fat)
– Optional: dried mung beans
Ingredients for your Goi Ga:
– Vietnamese Coriander (rau ram)
– S & P
– Quick pickled onion slices
– Fish Sauce
– Mushroom seasoning powder
– Fresh squeezed lime juice
– Torn chicken
– Optional – sliced raw cabbage
Instructions to make your Chao Ga and Goi Ga
1. In a large pot place your cleaned whole walking chicken with a tablespoon of salt, and your ginger slices. Cover the chicken with water, cover with lid, and let boil for 25 minutes flipping the bird halfway in between, and turn off the stove. Let your chicken sit covered for another 20 minutes. If you have a smaller pot, watch your pot to make sure it doesn’t boil over. You may need to cook over a rolling medium boil with the lid opened. I also meant flip the bird as in physically flip it over, not obscenely.
2. While your chicken is doing its thing, take out your rice (the volume is up to you, I would suggest if you’re using 1 chicken to use about 1 cup of rice or less if you like your congee more watery. Wash your rice. Add 1 peeled 1000 year old egg and massage your rice with the egg. The egg has some sort of enzyme that helps with breaking down the rice to make your congee more decadent and delicious all awhile cook faster. I watch a lot of food shows, a master congee maker somewhere in Asia taught me this, he is my sifu congee master whose knowledge has been passed on for many generations. lol Add a pinch of salt to your rice. Just cuz.
2. Remove your chicken, poke a chopstick through the meaty part of the thigh into the breast, if there’s some pink juices that flow out, let boil for another 5 minutes and poke again. Yeah, I know, I’m super science-y over here, try and keep up. If there are no pink juices, move the chicken into the fridge to cool.
3. Once you’re chicken no longer poses the threat of salmonella and is chilling in the fridge, move your rice to the broth and give it a good stir. Your rice will require up to an hour or hour and a half to become decimated into the congee we all love. Remember to stir occasionally as it’s cooking, and stir often when it’s about done. Thick congee burns quick. If you’ve added too much rice, and it’s already sucked up whatever broth you got, add more canned chicken broth or water. The fat of the broth will continually embed itself into the congee just like fat has done within my body, but if you’re anti-fat, I guess we can’t be friends (looks down at tummy). Just kidding, we can always be friends, and you can always skin off the fat and still have a 67% delicious chicken congee.
***You can use cooked rice instead of new rice, and you can also add washed dried mung bean to your rice to give the congee more heartiness.
4. Flavor your congee with salt, slowly and carefully. You can leave it a little more bland so that you can really taste the chicken flavor of the congee. You can get the salt fix from the Goi Ga. Once your congee is about done (rice kernels looked super bloated — imploded rice), blast the heat on high to get a boil going and turn off immediately and cover. We want to get some heat going and cover so that it continues to cook and meld flavors as we prepare our salad.
5. Tear up your chicken from the bones being careful to leave some meat on the bones for gnawing.
6. Make your quick onion pickle by slicing up 1 whole onion and giving it a quick ice bath. Season with salt and pepper, some mushroom seasoning, and lots of lime. Taste it to see if it’s where you’d like it before proceeding. If you’re feeling lazy, you can omit this step completely, but then your Goi Ga becomes about 89% as delectable.
7. In a large mixing bowl, add your torn chicken and bones. Season this with s&p, a few splashes of fish sauce, some mushroom seasoning powder, and lime juice keeping in mind that your onions are also seasoned. Mix your chicken and then add your onions. Mix these two together and taste again. Once you’re satisfied, add some chopped coriander and BAM homies yous got yourself some delicious chicken salad.
** optional, but you can turn this into a cabbage chicken salad by slicing up raw cabbage and adding it to your chicken salad. Make sure you add your coriander at the very last so they can remain fresh. Make sure to slice through your coriander with a sharp knife so it doesn’t become bruised.
Congee can be served with black pepper/white pepper and some fried shallots. But honestly, I prefer it with a little bit of black pepper and nothing else so I can really taste the chicken and ginger flavors. The side salad is the perfect complement adding a tangy, salty, and fresh component to this thick yummy bowl of chicken congee.
Nobody told you this would be quick, its an effort of love. So if you love somebody (or love yourself), and are cooking this with that special person in mind while you’re slaving away stirring away like a slave at the stove, it tastes 100% more delicious. Happy eating everyone!