Vietnamese Caramel Ginger Chicken juicy chicken bites glazed in a Vietnamese caramel sauce with a good dose of ginger.
Serve overjasmine ricewithAsian Slawfor a dinner everybody will gobble up!
Answer:Because the Vietnamese have been making this for centuries!
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The caramelisation cooking method used in todays recipe is a traditional Vietnamese technique.
At first the mixture looks thoroughly unimpressive watery and foamy.
We should know better than to doubt the Vietnamese!
That is made with whole bone-in chicken thighs and takes around an hour to make.
Todays recipe might be my favourite, for its speed and the lovely pops of ginger flavour.
Brown sugar This is what makes the caramel glaze!
Brown rather than white sugar, for extra caramely flavour.
you could substitute with soy sauce, but the glaze wont have quite the same flavour.
Ginger We use quite a lot, for lovely gingery flavour!
1/3 cup finely julienned.
Garlic could be substituted.
Chilli (optional) For a faint background hum of warmth.
I use Birds Eye but Thai chilli or other chilli of choice would be fine.
Eschalots (optional)Also known as French onions, and called shallots in the US.
How to make Vietnamese Caramel Ginger Chicken
Very easy, low maintenance and quick!
No marinating required, and just a 12 minute braise.
Tossthe chicken in the fish sauce and chilli (if using).
Then just set aside while you prepare and measure out the other ingredients.
Marinating isnt required plenty of flavour infusion into the chicken happens during the braise.
But you could leave it overnight, if you wanted to.
Use a large non-stick panelse the liquid will take ages to reduce.
Caramel Put the oil and sugar in a pan over medium heat and stir.
Melt As the pan heats up, the sugar will melt and form a caramel.
As soon as it has melted, take the pan off the stove before adding the chicken.
This is a precaution step because the caramel does sizzle a bit when you add the chicken.
By taking it off the stove, we dont need to worry.
Chicken-Slide the chicken in carefully (dont throw it in!
), eschalots and ginger.
Toss briefly to coat, then return to the stove.
The caramel may harden but thats ok, it will re-melt on the stove.
Cook Stir the chicken until it changes from pink to white but the inside will still be raw.
Add water then let it come up to the simmer.
This is what it looks like at the start not very appetising!
Its very low maintenance just stir every couple of minutes.
Midway Here it is halfway through.
you’ve got the option to see the chicken is starting to be stained by the sauce colour.
What you cant see is all the lovely flavour being absorbed by the chicken!
Glaze!Then after 10 to 12 minutes, this is what it looks like.
The liquid will have reduced right down and transformed into brown stick glaze that coats the chicken.
Just reduce the heat it youre concerned.
Its ready to eat!
For a lovely fresh side salad, Id suggest a crunchy freshAsian Slaw.
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(Mind you, his natural greediness means he ends up hoovering the floor clean.
