Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Chicken simmered (Gà tần)
Chicken simmered (gà tần) is really different to the typical pho ga, mi ga, chao ga routine. The best bit is that it not only tastes good, it is actually good for your health.Chicken simmered is a Hanoi speciality and a deeply-guarded traditional recipe incorporating a special mixture of secret herbs and spices handed down from parent to child over generations. The result is a quarter of chicken bobbing in a tasty broth, which is believed to be something akin to a health tonic by Vietnamese connoisseurs. A bowl of chicken simmered will impart energy and vitality, gives strength to your tendons and bones, helps you sleep better and eases backache and asthma.
Preparation centers on choosing the right chicken for the job. An old chicken will be too tough and a spring one may not impart the right flavour. But once the perfect chicken has been found, it is drawn, quartered and marinated in salt and spices for about 20 minutes before being simmered with medicinal herbs, nuts and seeds.
We didnt see all of our chefs sacred ingredients, but what we did see going into the bowl of chicken simmered included artemisia, a member of the daisy family believed to ease headache, neurasthenia, rheumatism, irregular periods and other ailments. We also spot angelica root in the mix, which is known to soothe stomachache, constipation and menstrual cramps. Lotus seeds also entered the bowl, good for stress, dried fruit for the heart and root medicine for the blood. Then the whole lot is served up in a steamy bowl with sweet, fried bread.
Vietnamese people is not sure if this is part of the tradition, they found this meal was best washed down with a few glasses of young rice wine (rượu nếp cẩm).
# posted by Jimmy @ 9:04 AM 
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