Gai Yang
If you've got chicken, coriander roots and stems and fish sauce, you're most of the way to this Thai chicken: about 60 minutes of cooking across 6 steps. You'll find the full ingredient list (with a scaler to change the servings), 6 steps of method, substitutions, and ideas for what to serve alongside.
You'll mainly reach for oven and grill / broiler. At medium difficulty across 6 steps, it's manageable with a little attention.
What you'll need
Shopping list (5)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
π Unit converter
How to make it
- Pound the garlic, coriander roots and white peppercorns in a mortar to a coarse, fragrant paste.
- Mix the paste with the fish sauce, oyster sauce, soy sauce, palm sugar, turmeric and oil to make a thick marinade.
- Butterfly the chicken by cutting along the backbone and pressing it flat, then rub the marinade all over and into the skin, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Bring the chicken to room temperature and set up a grill or oven for indirect medium heat around 180C.
- Grill the chicken skin-side up first, turning every 8 to 10 minutes and basting with leftover marinade, for 35 to 45 minutes until deeply golden and the juices run clear at 74C in the thickest part of the thigh.
- Rest the chicken for 10 minutes, then chop into pieces and serve with sticky rice and a spicy dipping sauce.
You'll use: Oven Β· Grill / broiler
Ingredient substitutions
- Fish Sauce
- soy sauce + a pinch of salt
- Soy Sauce
- tamari (gluten-free) Β· coconut aminos
What to serve with Gai Yang
- Massaman Beef curry Beef
- Pad Thai Seafood
- Drunken noodles (pad kee mao) Beef
- Tom yum soup with prawns Seafood
Tips & common questions
How long does Gai Yang take to make?
About 60 minutes from start to finish β an estimate based on the 6 steps and 10 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of fish sauce?
Try soy sauce + a pinch of salt. See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes β use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
How should I store leftovers?
Cool leftovers quickly, refrigerate in an airtight container, and eat within 3 days. Reheat until piping hot throughout.
Related recipes
Gai Yang is an original Thai recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Gai yang Khuukam.JPG by Nissy-KITAQ, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top β how we source recipes.