Cháo gà is simply a chicken congee of the Vietnamese style. It’s an easy and popular dish in Vietnam, especially for family gatherings or informal parties when everybody sits around the table with a hearty serving of this porridge.
Let’s bring that warm atmosphere to your house by cooking this dish in your kitchen. This recipe follows the old-fashioned way, but it won’t take very long, I promise!
Vietnamese Cháo Gà: A Healthy Dish For Everyone
Vietnamese chicken congee is quite different from the Western-style chicken soup you’re familiar with. For one thing, its dominant ingredient (besides chicken) is rice cooked in chicken broth until very soft and tender.
For a more convenient version of chicken congee, you can use the leftovers of your steamed chicken cooked with coarse salt, rice, and store-bought chicken broth to make it. But of course, the homemade chicken broth is much better as you can adjust its flavor based on your liking.
For another thing, many people like to enjoy chicken congee with various side dishes. In Vietnam, where this dish is a breakfast and dinner staple, locals usually eat it with aromatic herbs and fresh greens.
According to traditional belief, chicken congee is nutritious yet extremely easy to digest, so it is the recommended food for children, the elderly, people recovering from illness, etc. But healthy foodies seeking a delicious dish can cook and enjoy it as well.
Cooking Tools for Cháo Gà
You will need the following kitchen gadgets to prepare this Vietnamese chicken congee.
Cháo Gà’s Must-Have Ingredients
Chicken congee of Vietnamese is flexible in ingredients. Except for rice and chicken, you can replace the rest with anything you like. However, my personal experience is that having all these ingredients will create the best chicken congee you can’t forget.
How to Make Cháo Gà with Steps
All you need to do is follow these easy steps to cook your cháo gà, especially when you only have a little more than an hour to prepare a hot meal.
Step 1: Prepare The Ingredients
Wash the vegetables and let them drain.
Mix the two types of rice together, then wash them under running water. Let them drain while you carry out the rest of the preparation.
Cut ginger into thin slices. Halve the shallots. Cut the leek into short strips.
Finely chop coriander, scallion, perilla, and laksa leaves.
Cut each straw mushroom in half. Dice the carrot into bite-sized cubes.
Step 2: Cook The Chicken
Put the whole chicken in the stock pot. Fill the pot with 3.5 – 4 liters of water and ensure the water covers the chicken.
Add shallots, leeks, onions, ginger, dried jujube fruits, white wine, and salt to the pot.
Cook on medium heat for 30 – 40 minutes. Don’t put the lid on so that you can skim the foam during the process.
Step 3: Roast The Rice
In a skillet, lightly roast the rice until it turns pale golden brown and releases a faint fragrance. Don’t forget to stir constantly to prevent burning.
Note: This step improves the flavor profile of the congee, but you have to ensure that the rice is completely dry before roasting it. Wet rice will break apart upon being roasted, which, in turn, makes your congee overly mushy.
Step 4: Prepare The Congee
When the chicken is well cooked, remove the solids from the pot, except for the dried jujube fruits. Add roasted rice, lotus seeds, and carrot cubes to the pot.
Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Occasionally give the pot a gentle stir to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
In the meantime, wait until the chicken cools down, then shred its meat into bite-sized pieces or strips.
Add straw mushrooms to the pot, stir gently, turn down the heat (to avoid thickening the congee too much), and cook for another 5 – 10 minutes.
Lastly, spoon shredded chicken into the pot. Add fish sauce and brown sugar to taste.
Step 5: Decorate And Serve
Ladle some congee into your bowl. Top it with chopped laksa leaves, scallion, perilla, coriander, and bean sprouts. If possible, add some fresh chili, lime juice, or black pepper garnishes because they will make your congee even more delicious.
Ways to Store Your Cháo Gà
Vietnamese chicken congee is a great make-ahead recipe. You can cook it the day before and store it in an airtight container in the fridge for the next breakfast or dinner. The congee can stay good that way for 3 days.
Freezing is another excellent storage method. Prepare a resealable plastic container or freezer bag and pour your congee into it. Don’t forget to stick a date label on it because freezing can keep your food for up to 3 months, a considerably long time.
Vietnamese Chicken Congee For Your Soul, Why Not?
Vietnamese chicken congee fits the definition of a hot, hearty, home-cooked meal perfectly. Let the nuttiness of rice, lotus seeds, and straw mushrooms lull you into a sense of major contentment while the aromatic and reinvigorating vegetables indulge your taste buds.
Top it off with an elastic, savory bite of chicken, and your experience is complete. Recommend this recipe to your friends so that they can experience such wonderful feelings as well. If you want to share your opinion or any great cooking tips, feel free to leave a comment. Many thanks!
Cháo Gà Recipe (Vietnamese Chicken Congee)
Equipment
- Pot
- Ladle
- Non-stick skillet
- Slotted Spoon
- Small knife
- Bowls
- Chopping Board
Ingredients
- 1 free-range chicken (around 1.7 kg)
- 200 grams fresh lotus seeds
- 200 grams straw mushrooms
- 100 grams dried jujube fruits
- 3 tablespoons Vietnamese fish sauce
- 3 tablespoons white wine
- 100 grams white rice
- 100 grams glutinous rice
- 1 leek
- 1 carrot
- Onion
- Garlic
- Fresh chili pepper
- Shallots
- Vegetables: coriander, laksa leaves, scallion, perilla, bean sprouts, etc.
Instructions
- Mix the two types of rice together, then wash them under running water. Let them drain.
- Process the vegetables: cut ginger into thin slices; halve the shallots; cut the leek into short strips
- Finely chop the coriander, scallion, perilla, and laksa leaves.
- Cut each straw mushroom in half and dice the carrot into bite-sized cubes.
- Put the whole chicken in the stock pot. Fill the pot with 3.5 – 4 liters of water. Add shallots, leeks, onions, ginger, dried jujube fruits, white wine, and salt to the pot.
- Cook on medium heat for 30 – 40 minutes. Skim the foam while cooking.
- In a skillet, lightly roast the rice and constantly stir it to avoid burning. Take the skillet off when the rice turns slightly golden brown and releases a faint fragrance.
- Remove chicken and other ingredients from the pot, except for the dried jujube fruits. Add roasted rice, lotus seeds, and carrot cubes to the pot. Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Occasionally stir the rice.
- Add straw mushrooms to the pot, stir gently, turn down the heat (to avoid thickening the congee too much), and cook for another 5 – 10 minutes.
- Shred the chicken meat into bite-sized pieces or strips.
- Transfer it to the pot.
- Add fish sauce and brown sugar to taste.
- Serve chicken congee with chopped laksa leaves, scallion, perilla, coriander, and bean sprouts. If possible, add some fresh chili, lime juice, or black pepper garnishes.
Video
Notes
- The rice has to be completely dry before you can roast it.
Nutrition
Richie
Content Writer
Expertise
Home Cooking, Meal Planning, Food Styling, Food Photography, Cooking-video Maker, Beverage Evaluation Expert
Education
Saigon Culinary Arts Centre, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Vietnam Australia Vocational School (VAAC), Hanoi, Vietnam
Richie, based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is a dynamic Content Writer with a talent for capturing the essence of culinary art.
Richie specializes in creating visually appealing and tasty content, offering a new angle on Vietnamese and other culinary traditions. With a background in graphic design and a love for food styling and photography, he expertly combines beauty with food narratives, encouraging his audience to discover the culinary world through his imaginative perspective.