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Vietnamese "Red" Chicken?

Martin Fisher

By Martin Fisher
in Cooking

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Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
Posted

My late friend, Bill C., who's been gone a little over 15 years (RIP Bill :sad:) told me that chicken he had in Vietnam, during the war—what he called 'red chicken'—was the best chicken he'd ever had.

I don't know if this was something common to just a specific area or what.

And I'm not sure how often he saw land—he told me that his service was mostly on a ship off shore (something he didn't talk about much) and that he didn't see combat—but I'm not sure that was true as he did seem to show some signs of shell-shock or battle stress. :S

Anyway, I can't remember him noting any details other than the chicken was red.

I don't remember him mentioning if it was on the bone or off the bone.

Was this chicken marinaded in some sort of soy sauce brine that made it look red?

I have done some Google searches over the years but I've never found anything that looked promising.

I've been curious in regard to this for years!

Any ideas?

Thanks! 

:smile:

  • Like 1

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted

Could it be related to Chinese red-cooked (红烧 hóng shāo) dishes? They are braised in soy sauce, often with sugar.

 

I'm off on one of my trips tomorrow and will always certainly meet some Vietnamese people who live here. I'll ask if they know it and can describe it.

  • Like 3

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted

Unfortunately the Vietnamese for 'red chicken', gà đỏ means the breed of chicken, Rhode Island Red. I'll ask wiser people!

  • Like 1

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
2 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Unfortunately the Vietnamese for 'red chicken', gà đỏ means the breed of chicken, Rhode Island Red. I'll ask wiser people!

I know without a doubt that he was referring to the coloration of the cooked chicken.

 

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
2 hours ago, liuzhou said:

I'm off on one of my trips tomorrow and will always certainly meet some Vietnamese people who live here. I'll ask if they know it and can describe it.

 

Thank you! :smile:

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted (edited)

@DiggingDogFarm

I'm back home and did, as expected, meet some Vietnamese people on my short trip down to the China-Vietnam border area. I remained on the Chinese side this time.

 

Unfortunately, and I should have thought of this earlier, the people I met were all from North Vietnam, particularly Hanoi. I'm taking a wild guess that your friend Bill wasn't stationed in North Vietnam!

 

Anyway, I asked and, after a few blank looks, they concluded that 'red chicken'  is probably some kind of variation on Chinese red-cooking (红烧 hóng shāo) as I mentioned, but they weren't 100%  sure.

 

As you suggested it may be a different, regional dish which they don't know. Do you know where he was stationed?

 

In the meantime. I'm sorry I haven't been able to help much, but I will keep accosting passing Vietnamese and demand a sensible explanation!

Edited by liuzhou (log)
  • Like 2
  • Haha 3

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Thanks for the Crepes

Thanks for the Crepes

Posted
Posted
29 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

I will keep accosting passing Vietnamese and demand a sensible explanation!

 

This made me laugh out loud, and I can just imagine you doing just that and being successful in your queries. I wouldn't dream of it unless I had a wee bit too much to drink. xD

  • Like 2

> ^ . . ^ <

 

 

Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

Do you know where he was stationed?

 

No, all I can recall is that he said he spent most of his time on a ship off the coast.

I don't remember him mentioning a specific or even relatively general location. :S

 

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

I'm sorry I haven't been able to help much, but I will keep accosting passing Vietnamese and demand a sensible explanation!

 

Thank you! :smile:

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, dcarch said:

Chinese use red dye to make their roasted pork red.

 

Roast pork I see and buy here in China is never dyed that bright red color which seems to more of an American thing.

 

Here's the most popular roast pork stall in my local market. No dye involved.

 

IMG_9774.jpg&key=1656070a13b3602a7ebb213

Edited by liuzhou (log)
  • Like 8

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted (edited)
7 hours ago, hongda said:

Think Dcarch is referring to Cha Siu. 

 

That is cha sui (叉烧) ! It isn't dyed here!

Edited by liuzhou (log)
  • Like 1

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Duvel

Duvel

Posted
Posted
32 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

That is cha sui (叉烧) ! It isn't dyed here!

 

In Hong Kong both dyed and "natural" versions are available ...

  • 6 months later...
Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted (edited)

@liuzhou, any more on this?

I think about this frequently.

I sure wish I could find the answer.

Anyone else?

Edited by DiggingDogFarm (log)

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted (edited)
On 9/6/2017 at 5:01 AM, DiggingDogFarm said:

No, all I can recall is that he said he spent most of his time on a ship off the coast.

 

I've always thought that he may have not been honest in regard to where he was stationed.

Intuition led me to think that he wasn't entirely forthcoming—in many ways me seemed  'shell-shocked.'

So, I have no idea exactly where he encountered 'red chicken.'

Edited by DiggingDogFarm (log)

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

@KennethT, are you willing to take a trip to Vietnam and ferret out 'red chicken'? LOL xD

  • Haha 1

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted
58 minutes ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

@liuzhou, any more on this?

I think about this frequently.

I sure wish I could find the answer.

Anyone else?

 

 

Sorry, I've drawn a blank, but I am going to Vietnam later this month, so will continue to ask.

  • Like 2

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
12 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

Sorry, I've drawn a blank, but I am going to Vietnam later this month, so will continue to ask.

 

Thanks! :)

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

JohnT

JohnT

Posted
Posted

Could the "red" chicken by any chance have been a red chicken curry? I am not knowledgeable with Vietnamese dishes but have heard that they make a red chicken curry (or maybe thought of such a dish in my dreams last night^_^).!?!?

Cape Town - At the foot of a flat topped mountain with a tablecloth covering it.

Some time ago we had Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Steve Jobs. Now we have no Cash, no Hope and no Jobs. Please don't let Kevin Bacon die.

KennethT

KennethT

Posted
Posted

I've never seen a Viet curry before - not that I've really looked for one though.  I'd love to take a trip to take one for the team!!!

  • Like 1
FeChef

FeChef

Posted
Posted

Maybe it was bbq roast duck and he thought it was chicken. I remember a episode of bizarre foods where AZ was in Vietnam and there was a stand in the market that had a bunch of bbq ducks hanging that were really "red" in color.

Dogchef

Dogchef

Posted
Posted

Perhaps some enterprising chef marinated the chicken in their local, but rare, "Gac"?

From what I've read, its usually used with rice, but why not chicken?

  • 6 months later...
Martin Fisher

Martin Fisher

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

I think about this often.

I very much regret not asking Bill more questions! :(

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted (edited)

I did ask around when I was in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) back in May, but got nowhere.. Sorry,  I forgot to tell you at the time.

 

But, don't give up!

Edited by liuzhou (log)
  • Like 1

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

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