Gai Yang (Thai Grilled Chicken with Jaew Sauce)

Ingredients

• 1½ kg whole chicken, butterflied
• 6 tbsp fresh cilantro, stems and roots included
• 10 garlic, peeled
• 2 tsp white pepper
• 5 tbsp fish sauce
• 3 tbsp palm sugar
• 2 dl coconut milk
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 3 tbsp lime juice
• 6 dried arbol chile, stemmed
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp white rice
• 3 spring onion, thinly sliced
• 400 g sticky rice
• 1 tsp salt

Method

1. 1.

   Soak the sticky rice — Rinse the sticky rice three or four times until the water runs almost clear, then cover it generously with warm water and leave it to soak for at least two hours. Unsoaked sticky rice will never steam through, so do not shorten this.

2. 2.

   Pound the marinade paste — Pound the cilantro stems and roots with the garlic, white pepper and salt in a mortar until you have a fragrant green paste. Stir in 3 tbsp of the fish sauce, 2 tbsp of the palm sugar, the coconut milk and the turmeric.

3. 3.

   Marinate the chicken — Rub the marinade over the butterflied chicken, working it under the skin of the breasts and thighs, and refrigerate for at least two hours alongside the soaking rice. Bring it back to room temperature before it goes near the fire.

4. 4.

   Toast the rice for the jaew — For the jaew, toast the white rice in a dry pan over medium heat, shaking constantly, until it is deep golden and smells of popcorn, then pound it to a coarse sandy powder. Toast the dried arbol chile in the same pan for thirty seconds and crush them.

5. 5.

   Mix the dipping sauce — Whisk the remaining fish sauce and palm sugar with the lime juice, the chilli flakes and the crushed chile until the sugar dissolves, then stir in half the toasted rice powder and the spring onions. The dip should be sour and salty first, hot second.

6. 6.

   Steam the rice — Drain the sticky rice and steam it in a cloth-lined basket over rapidly boiling water for 25 minutes, turning the whole mass over halfway through, until the grains are translucent and chewy. Keep it wrapped in the cloth so it stays warm.

7. 7.

   Grill over indirect heat — Set the chicken skin-side up over indirect medium heat, close the lid and grill for about 40 minutes, basting with the leftover marinade every ten minutes, until a skewer in the thigh runs clear. Then move it directly over the coals, skin down, for a final 5 minutes to blister and lacquer.

8. 8.

   Rest and chop — Rest the chicken on a board for 10 minutes, then chop it through the bone into short pieces. Serve with the warm sticky rice, the jaew for dipping, and the rest of the toasted rice powder scattered over the top.