I am a huge fan of Vietnamese food so I had really high hopes for this dish. I realized at the last minute we needed the required noodles so Eric and I biked to the grocery store and as a result worked up quite an appetite. The chicken smelled delicious cooking on the grill and we were starving by the time I plated. I was really happy with the way the chicken turned out from the grill. It was extremely moist and juicy, and I think we've finally mastered the temperature weirdness of our grill. Everything turned out great, but I'll be honest, the flavor of the sauce was just not what I wanted. I think it required a little too much rice vinegar and not enough fish sauce. I ended up adding extra fish sauce on my dish and that helped slightly, but I think the combination of the sauce and the 5-spice blend is not exactly complimentary. My favorite part? The fresh herbs.
Things I learned from this recipe:
I don't really like Chinese 5-spice blend.
Would I make this recipe again?
Probably not.