Gizzi Erskine's Vietnamese pot roast chicken recipe

Spice up your roast dinner with Gizzi Erskine's exotic pot roast chicken recipe from episode 1 of the new Channel 4 series, Cook Yourself Thin

Ingredients

• 1tsp ground nut oil
• 5 cloves garlic
• 3cm fresh root ginger, peeled
• 1-2 Thai birds eye chillies
• ½tsp turmeric
• 3-4 Kaffir lime leaves, sliced
• A small bunch coriander, finely chopped
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large whole chicken
• 300ml Asian beer, preferably a Vietnamese beer
• 400ml fresh chicken stock
• 1tbsp fish sauce
• 1tbsp palm sugar
• Boiled rice, to serve
• Pak choi, to serve

Method

1. Place the garlic, ginger, chillies, turmeric, lime leaves, coriander, oil, salt and pepper into a food processor and blitz until it becomes a smooth paste.
2. With your hands gently rub under the skin of the chicken to detach it from the carcass then rub the marinade all over the chicken, and underneath the skin of the chicken. You can slash the legs two or three times so that the marinade can permeate into the meat. Leave to marinate for at least two hours but the longer you leave it the better it will taste so I would suggest doing it for the full 24 hours.
3. Heat the oven to 200ºC. Place the chicken into a deep Dutch oven casserole dish. Cover with the beer, stock, fish sauce and palm sugar, pop the lid on and roast in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove the lid and finish baking with the lid off for another 30-40 mins or until the chicken is cooked through. Remove from the oven then leave to rest for 15 mins.
4. Remove the chicken from the pot. There should be about an inch of sauce in the pan. Taste the sauce. It may need to be seasoned. Carve the chicken and serve with boiled rice and pak choi with the sauce poured over.