Food Lust People Love: Fish Sauce Roasted Chicken

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Fish Sauce Roasted Chicken

Deliciously savory, a little bit sweet and spicy, this delectable fish sauce roasted chicken will have you licking your fingers and asking for more!

Many years ago, back in my early days of blogging, I “met” a fellow expat who lived in Japan, then moved to Shanghai. I loved reading Nancy’s posts as she explored her new neighborhood and found seasonal produce to eat and dishes to recreate.

She shared her version of this fish sauce roasted chicken which came from Australian chef and cookbook author Adam Liaw’s Asian After Work. After I made it once, I was determined to find myself a copy of that cookbook since Nancy said it was great!

I saved the search on various used bookselling sites back in 2014 or 2015. Occasionally I got emails that a copy was available but always for some ridiculously high price and usually with shipping from Australia, which was also crazy high. But 2024 was finally THE YEAR. And I now have the wonderful Asian After Work! So I figured it was time to share my version.

Fish Sauce Roasted Chicken

Adam Liaw calls for a whole cilantro plant in his recipe, using even the roots which is common in many Asian recipes. Unfortunately, most of us can’t find whole plants with roots in our supermarkets so we have make do with just the stems and leaves. Still delicious!

Ingredients

For roasting the chicken:

2.2 lbs or 1kg chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat

1 onion, peeled and cut into slices

For the marinade:

1/3 cup or 80ml fish sauce (I like Squid brand, if you can find it.)

1 small bunch cilantro, stems and all, chopped, plus extra for garnish

1 clove garlic, sliced

2 tablespoons sugar

3 birdseye chili peppers, finely sliced

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C on the fan-forced setting or 375°F or 190°C if you don’t have a convection oven.

In a roasting pan, mix all of the marinade ingredients together, and stir well to dissolve the sugar.

Add the chicken thighs to the roasting pan and spoon the marinade over turning them to coat.

Tuck the sliced onion under the thighs and roast in the preheated oven, skin side up.

Roast for 40 minutes, basting every 10-15 minutes.

Remove the chicken when the skin is sticky and dark and the meat is cooked through. Garnish with a little chopped cilantro.

Serve in a puddle of sauce with the onions.

Enjoy!

Welcome to the 6th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2025, brought to you by the letter F. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the F recipes below: