Vietnamese style curry rice
It’s finally fall in DC! The weather has been getting colder, the sun has been setting earlier, and all I ever want to eat are soups and stews. One of my favorite cold weather comfort foods is cà ri gà, or Vietnamese chicken curry. The curry powder used is closer to Japanese curry than Indian or Thai, and soup is flavored with lemongrass, chili flakes, and coconut milk. The broth is usually thinner, and the dish is served with a fresh baguette for dipping.
I wanted the familiar flavors of cà ri gà, but with a more stick to your ribs consistency. I don’t have access to the light and crisp Vietnamese baguettes that are usually eaten with the dish, and while I often eat it with rice when my mom makes it, adding rice to the thin soup tends to dilute the strong flavors I love. After some improvising in the kitchen, I ended up with a version of this curry that has all the same ingredients and flavors as the classic cà ri gà, but with a thicker, more concentrated sauce. The result is like a cross between the popular Japanese curry rice and my beloved cà ri gà.
To make this curry taste authentically Vietnamese, buy your curry powder from an Asian grocery store. This is the kind I use.
My family buys ours in bulk every time we go to Vietnam. If you’re ever in Saigon, make sure you stop by the Cho Ben Thanh market and get some spices from the Anh Hai stall! They sell a lot of single spices by weight, as well as spice blends for other Vietnamese dishes.
If you can’t find Vietnamese curry powder, madras curry or Japanese curry would give you similar flavors.
I usually like to follow recipes and stick to tried and true techniques in my cooking. This was a lot of fun to make!