Anatomy of a dish Pok pok chicken wings at Saigon Suzy

Saigon Suzy has a cult following in Joburg and not just because it’s a rock ’n roll karaoke bar with a vibe. Contributing editor Khanya Mzongwana’s pick of the menu? These pok pok chicken wings

“Just before we got married, my wife Sarra and I travelled through Vietnam on a motorbike,” explains owner Bruce Beattie. While in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), an old lady named Suzy took them in and educated them about the food.

The restaurant is named for her and features a strong Vietnamese influence, along with dishes from Thailand, Cambodia and southern China.

The marinade recipe is a secret but includes lemongrass, garlic, ginger and a lot of fish sauce. After marinating, the wings are slow-roasted, then finished on a charcoal grill and tossed in a sweetand-sour sauce.

The result is packed with umami – a real flavour bomb.

As they’re quite salty, Bruce recommends pairing the wings with a Nagasaki negroni – a sakebased negroni, using Japanese gin. The strong bitter and sweet notes offset the saltiness.

Pok pok chicken is a Vietnamese dish that gets its name from the sound of the pestle and mortar when the garlic, ginger and lemongrass are crushed.

What else should you order? Try the hot-andspicy firecracker cauliflower – a vegan dish. Or the Vietnamese salad – it’s the perfect balance of sweet and sour to cut through the richness of the wings.