Vietnamese barbecue

On my first trip to Vietnam, I fell in love with its herbaceous, refreshing food. The following is my Kiwi version of the combination of grilled meat or seafood, fresh vegetables, herbs, rice or rice papers and dipping sauce that is the basis of many Vietnamese meals. It became a hit in our household, served once a week to a hungry family. By the time she was about 10, my daughter could make the dipping sauce – showing that this refreshing combination of flavours is also child’s play to make.

3 cloves garlic
4 tablespoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons caster sugar
large pinch of chilli flakes
12 small free-range skinned and boned chicken thighs (about 800g)
2 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce
1 tablespoon ginger juice (made by finely grating ginger then squeezing out the juice)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 carrots, peeled, thinly sliced
1 cucumber, peeled, cut into bite-sized pieces
4 tomatoes, cored, cut into wedges
1 red capsicum, deseeded, sliced
2 handfuls baby cos lettuce leavessmall handful each of basil and mint leaves, coriander and dill sprigs
150ml sweet chilli sauce
18 Vietnamese rice paper wrappers
steamed jasmine rice to serve

Thinly slice 1 clove of garlic then put in a bowl with the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, chilli and 2 tablespoons water. Mix until the sugar dissolves then taste and adjust the sweet, salty, sour and hot flavours if necessary until they are balanced. This is the dipping sauce. Reserve.

Chop the remaining garlic then combine with the chicken, soy sauce and ginger juice in a bowl. Mix well then cover and marinate for 1 hour.

Drizzle the sesame oil over a chargrill pan then heat over moderate heat. Add the chicken thighs, side by side, then grill for 5 minutes each side or until cooked through and well browned. Remove from the pan and slice across the grain of the meat.

Place the chicken, vegetables and herbs in separate piles on a serving platter. The dipping sauce, sweet chilli sauce, rice papers (with a bowl of warm water to soak them in) and rice can all be served on the side.

Everyone helps themselves – wrap the chicken, herbs and vegetables in rice papers or cos leaves.