Twice-Cooked Chicken was a menu specialty at A Little Bit of Saigon, a popular Vietnamese restaurant on Maunakea Street in Chinatown in the 1990s.

After the restaurant closed in 2000, owners Duc Nguyen and Minh Na Vu turned their attention to Duc's Bistro. Alas, Twice-Cooked Chicken is not on that menu, and Jenny Hong misses it. “;I used to take all my out-of-town friends there, and they loved that dish,”; Hong wrote.

Vu remembers the recipe, which she developed based on a dish called Coconut Chicken that is popular in Vietnam but not so common in Hawaii.

“;When I was in Vietnam, we used to go to restaurants to eat, and my mother ordered that dish,”; Vu said. “;I fell in love with that dish. I learned how to make it just cooking at home.”;

The chicken is marinated in a mixture that includes the juice from a fresh young coconut, a step that might be enough to stop many home cooks right there. But you can get around having to break into a coconut by making a trip to a Filipino grocery for a can of coconut water. You want plain coconut water, not the type that's been flavored and sweetened. I found a 10-ounce can for about 60 cents at Pacific Supermarket in Waipahu.

After marinating, the chicken pieces are fried — that's the first-cooked part —then simmered in the marinade, which cooks down to a sauce that coats the chicken — the twice-cooked part.

The result is a slightly sweet dish flavored with garlic, shallots and soy sauce. It does not taste of coconut. Coconut water, if you've never taken a sip, has none of the heavy coconut taste of coconut milk.

At the restaurant, the chicken was served on bed of watercress, sliced cucumber, tomatoes and sweet onion.

TWICE-COOKED CHICKEN

1 fresh chicken, about 3 pounds, preferably free-range or organic
Vegetable oil for frying
» Marinade:
1 head garlic
1/2 cup of shallots (about 8 pieces)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
Juice from 1 fresh young coconut, or 1 10-ounce can plain coconut water

Wash chicken in salted water, pat dry. Cut into 8 large pieces (leave bones in and skin on).

To make marinade: Coarsely chop garlic and shallots. Combine with remaining ingredients except coconut juice. Mix chicken pieces with marinade; add enough coconut juice so chicken is covered. Refrigerate a maximum of 3 hours.

Remove chicken, reserving marinade. Set chicken on paper towels and let air-dry 15 minutes.

Heat oil in saute pan over medium heat. Fry chicken until golden, lowering heat to prevent burning.

Remove chicken; discard oil. Return chicken to pan with reserved marinade. Cook slowly, turning chicken occasionally until done, about 10 minutes. Sauce should thicken and coat chicken.

Cut chicken into smaller pieces. Serve topped with remaining sauce in pan.

Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 680 calories, 48 g total fat, 11 g saturated fat, 170 mg cholesterol, greater than 1,500 mg sodium, 16 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 9 g sugar, 45 g protein

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Nutritional analyses by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S. Send queries to “;By Request,”; Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, Honolulu 96813. Send e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).