Uyen Luu

1 First, make the pickle. Reserve one fifth of the onion, then combine the rest with the other ingredients and leave for at least 1 hour.

2 Next prepare the salad. Put 1.2 litres cold water and the chicken thighs in a saucepan over a medium heat and cover. Bring to the boil, then skim the froth from the surface. Add the stock and cook for 25–30 minutes (20 minutes into cooking, extract some stock – see step 3).

3 Wash and drain the rice. Finely chop the reserved onion. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat and fry the onion and garlic. Add the rice, then stir until coated. After the chicken has been poaching for 20 minutes, decant 350ml of the stock and add it to the rice with a pinch of salt. Cover, then raise the heat to medium; this technique will cook the rice beautifully by steaming it. When the liquid comes to the boil, turn down the heat to low and cook for 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4 Next mix all the dipping sauce ingredients in a bowl with 2 tbsp of the poaching stock.

5 When the chicken has finished poaching, remove it from the pan and let it rest for 10 minutes while the rice is still cooking. Reserve the leftover stock for another time – allow it to cool completely, then refrigerate or freeze it.

6 Shred the chicken from the bones. Discard the skin. Mix the meat with the onion pickle (discarding the juices), mint, coriander and pepper. Serve at room temperature with the rice and dipping sauce.

Uyen Luu, My Vietnamese Kitchen (Ryland Peters & Small)