Vietnamese Culture and Tradition 
Chicken is a mainstay in the diet of the Vietnamese. Compared to other meats, it is relatively inexpensive and can be prepared in countless ways. Chef Cao Ngoc Duc who has specialized in preparing chicken dishes for 15 years says chicken is not only delicious but high in protein.
Proof to the meat’s versatility, Cao Ngoc Duc graciously described various methods to cook chicken.
For example, boiled chicken is the most popular dish, having a yellow skin and sweet taste. It is customarily served with salt mixed with lemon. Roasted chicken is prepared using five spices plus lemongrass and chilli so the dish is delicious and crispy. Soya-sauce is a condiment that accompanies this dish. Chicken simmered in medicinal herbs is good for health. Also, there are other dishes, such as the sweet and sour fried chicken, chicken fried with cashews, or vermicelli, lemongrass and red pepper, and ginger. Chicken can be grilled with honey and cooked with coconut sauce, fried with fish sauce or mixed with vegetables. Chicken hot pots include chicken hot-pot with medicinal herbs, or with mushrooms and with common sage-brush. Chicken is also an indispensable ingredient to make noodle soup, rice gruel, etc.
Chicken fried with cashew
Ingredients: (Serves 4)
- Chicken: 350g
- Cashew: 100g
- Carrot, 1 chayote, 5 perfume mushrooms, 1 small root of ginger, spring onion, 1 tablespoon each of oyster sauce, soya sauce, cooking oil, wine, 20g each of wheat flour and arrowroot powder, 10g of garlic, 100g of Da Lat green and red chilli, salt, pepper and 1 chicken egg.
Preparation:
- Slice the chicken into bite size cubes, mix with pepper, seasoning, a dash of egg yolk and spray with arrowroot powder and slightly fry in boiling cooking oil.
- Cut carrot and chayote into canarium-shaped pieces, spring onion into pieces, ginger into slices and mushrooms in halves.
- Fry the crushed garlic then add all the other ingredients. Add the oyster sauce, seasoning and soya-sauce to suit your taste. Lastly, add a dash of arrow-root powder and cooking oil. Place the dish on a large plate or in a pineapple.
