Vietnamese barbecued spatchcock with stir-fried green beans

Weighing in at little more than half a kilo each, spatchcocks, or baby chickens, make the perfect size meal for two. They're even better if you like cooking and eating meat on the bone. Being quite small, spatchcocks cook quickly but this recipe would work just as well with a normal-sized chicken, too; just increase the cooking time to account for the extra weight.

Credit: Sharyn Cairns

• serves

  2

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 x 600 g spatchcock, butterflied
• 4 red Asian shallots or ½ small red onion, chopped 
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 small red chillies, chopped
• 1 stalk lemongrass, white part only, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp Chinese five-spice
• 1½ tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice, plus wedges to serve
• 350 g green beans, trimmed
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp deep fried shallots (optional)

Instructions

Preheat a barbecue or chargrill pan over high heat. 

Place the red Asian shallots, garlic, chilli, lemongrass, Chinese five-spice, fish sauce and 2 teaspoons of oil in a small food processor and process, stopping to scrape down the bowl a few times, until smooth. Alternatively, pound the first five ingredients in a mortar and pestle until smooth then add the fish sauce and oil.

Rub half the paste into the spatchcock and massage into the flesh. Place skin side down on the barbecue and cook for 10 minutes. Turn and cook for a further 10 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from the heat, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and set aside, covered, to rest for 5 minutes.

When the spatchcock is almost finished cooking, bring 1 cm water in a wok to the boil. Add the beans, cover and steam for 2 minutes. Strain and return the wok to a medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and the remaining spice paste. Cook, stirring, for 2–3 minutes until the paste starts to darken a little. Add the green beans and cook for 1 minute until well coated in the paste. Add the soy sauce and lemon juice and cook for a further 1–2 minutes until the beans are tender. 

Place the green beans on a plate and scatter over the deep fried shallots. Cut the spatchcock in half and serve with lemon wedges.

Photography by Sharyn Cairns. Styling by Lee Blaylock. Food preparation by Peta Gray. Creative concept by Lou Fay.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.