A bold and vibrant Vietnamese Chicken Curry! With an indulgently creamy broth and melt-in-your-mouth chicken, they’re the perfect companion for fresh baguettes and rice noodles. You’ll also love how the curry has an added richness using a secret ingredient!
Our Vietnamese Chicken Curry Recipe
When Winter comes around, there are a few things that transform those cold nights into toasty heartfelt memories: warm bread crunching between your fingers, silky noodles sliding along chopsticks and steaming hot broth melting the chills away.
Combine that with conversations around the dinner table and you’ll know why our Vietnamese Chicken Curry is truly special.
It means family.
But that’s not the only reason why I love making this recipe over and over again.
It’s the fall apart chicken drumsticks that have been flash fried to seal in its juices, then slow cooked in curry broth. It’s the tender vegetables that add a natural sweetness to each mouthful.
And it’s the moment when you dip crusty baguette into the soup to soak up every last golden drop before biting into an explosion of earthy curry flavour.
This is hands down the only Vietnamese curry recipe you’ll need in your life!
Sweetening your Vietnamese Curry
In our family curry recipe, there are two ways to sweeten the broth without using sugar:
(1) Adding taro. Taro has a natural nutty sweetness that is not only adds flavour, but once it cooks into the curry, the dish becomes incredibly creamy.
(2) Adding sweet potato. It’s a no brainer as to why this vegetable is a popular choice for Vietnamese curry. Anything with sweet potato will be guaranteed added sweetness because once cooked, the enzymes will break the starch down into sugar.
But there’s a THIRD ingredient for sweetening Vietnamese Chiceken Curry!
Our family’s secret ingredient for a rich and luscious broth is sweetened condensed milk. It makes the curry beautifully smooth and gives a depth of flavour that can’t be achieved with just sugar alone.
Here’s the logic behind it: If you’re going for a thick curry, you need a thick sweetener. You won’t regret it once you try it!
What you'll need to make Vietnamese Curry
For the Chicken Marinade
To get the best flavours, marinate the drumsticks and leave them in the fridge overnight. Alternatively, marinate for at least 20 minutes.
- 10 chicken drumsticks
- chicken giblets (optional)
- 6 tbsp tumeric powder (or enough to cover all the chicken)
- 2 stalks lemongrass divided into 5 cm / 2″ segments then smashed
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
For the Curry Broth
- 5 L chicken and pork stock
- 15 curry leaves (we get it from the local Asian supermarket)
- 600 g / 1.5 lb taro, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 600 g / 1.5 lb sweet potato, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 230 g / 0.5 lb curry sauce (affiliate link; or use 3 tbsp curry powder instead)
- 1 L / 4 US cup coconut cream (affiliate link)
- 2 US cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tbsp chicken bouillon powder (affiliate link)
- 3 tbsp salt, or to taste
- 2 US cup cooking oil
- 2 large onions
- blood jelly (optional)
How to make Vietnamese Chicken Curry
Heat up a wok on high heat and add the cooking oil. Flash fry the taro until crispy on the outside then set aside.
This will help to develop a crispy crust around the taro which prevents it from breaking up in the curry.
Flash fry the sweet potatoes until crispy on the outside in the same oil, then set aside.
Separate the lemongrass and garlic from the marinated chicken and giblets. Reuse the cooking oil (or replace with 3 tbsp new oil) to fry the lemongrass and garlic for 30 seconds.
Pour the drumsticks into the wok and brown all sides to seal in the juices.
Meanwhile, bring the chicken and pork stock to a boil and add the curry sauce, coconut cream, condensed milk, chicken bouillon powder, salt and curry leaves.
Add the chicken, taro, sweet potatoes and onions in and cook on a medium simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve with a squeeze of lime juice, fresh Vietnamese baguette and rice noodles!
More Vietnamese Noodle Soups
If you have a weekend to spare, try out these classic Vietnamese noodles soups!
- Vietnamese Beef Stew (Bò Kho)
- Vietnamese Chicken Tapioca Noodle Soup (Bánh Canh Gà)
- Satay Beef Noodle Soup
You’ll love sharing these dishes with your whole family. When there’s a steaming bowl of noodle soup on the table, there’ll be nothing but satisfied bellies!
Lots of Love,
Jeannette
Vietnamese Chicken Curry (Cà Ri Gà)
Ingredients
The Chicken Marinade
- 10 chicken drumsticks
- chicken giblets (optional)
- 6 tbsp tumeric powder (or enough to cover all the chicken)
- 2 stalks lemongrass divided into 5cm / 2" segments then smashed
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
The Curry Broth
- 5 L chicken and pork stock
- 15 curry leaves (we get it from the local Asian supermarket)
- 600 g / 1.5 lb taro, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 600 g / 1.5 lb sweet potato, peeled and cut into large chunks
- 230 g / 0.5 lb curry sauce (affiliate link; or use 3 tbsp curry powder instead)
- 1 L / 4 US cup coconut cream (affiliate link)
- 2 US cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tbsp chicken bouillon powder (affiliate link)
- 3 tbsp salt, or to taste
- 2 US cup cooking oil
- 2 large onions
- blood jelly (optional)
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken overnight or for at least 20 minutes. Tip: Make sure to take the chicken out of the fridge 20 minutes prior to cooking to avoid having tough meat.
- Heat up a wok on high heat and add the cooking oil. Flash fry the taro until crispy on the outside then set aside.
- Flash fry the sweet potatoes until crispy on the outside in the same oil, then set aside.
- Separate the lemongrass and garlic from the marinated chicken and giblets. Reuse the cooking oil (or replace with 3 tbsp new oil) to fry the lemongrass and garlic for 30 seconds.
- Pour the drumsticks into the wok and brown all sides to seal in the juices.
- Meanwhile, bring the chicken and pork stock to a boil and add the curry sauce, coconut cream, condensed milk, chicken bouillon powder, salt and curry leaves.
- Add the chicken, taro, sweet potatoes and onions in and cook on a medium simmer for 20 minutes.
- Serve with a squeeze of lime juice, fresh Vietnamese baguette and rice noodles!
SHARE YOUR CREATION!
If you recreated this authentic recipe, I’d love to see it! Tag @wokandkin on Instagram with the hashtag #wokandkin! See you there!
WANT MORE HOME COOKED RECIPES?
Subscribe to our email list and be the first to get recipe updates as soon as they’re posted. You can also follow Wok & Kin on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter!
I love this curry! Will serve with some crusty bread to soak it up! YUM!
The best way to serve it! 😁
The drumstick is my favorite part of the chicken. This is a great dish. My husband loved it too.
Thanks, Krissy! Glad you both enjoyed it!
Oh my, this chicken looks fantastic! Love all the flavors in this.
Thanks, Andrea!
I’ve never cooked with taro before, so this is all new to me, but this curry has so many intricate flavors, they must postively dance on your tongue!
It definitely does! I hope you get to try it out one day!
Drooling over that curry. Such a delicious and flavorful recipe. Saving it for later
Thanks, Kushigalu! I hope you enjoy it!