Chicken in a Caramel Sauce

Hailing from the home kitchens of Vietnam, this stalwart Saigon weeknight dish translates strangely into English (as posting title above indicates), but don't be scared off by the discordant name of the actual recipe. In reality, serving up such a fetching combination of sweet and salty flavors will unexpectedly shock your taste buds in the happiest of ways, leading you to wonder why you never thought of preparing poultry in a spicy syrup yourself.

When "salted caramel" desserts are rocking menus across the world, a savory preparation is only too welcome to open-minded palettes. Having preached thus, JUST TRY IT and tell us if you don't love this! Do not be scared by the list of ingredients - the meal, served with a bowl of rice - comes together in less than 30 minutes.

In the photos above you'll see we served nestled with sliced beefsteak tomatoes and sliced red onions dressed in olive oil, mint leaves and rice vinegar.

THIT GA KHO GUNG (CHICKEN SIMMERED IN CARAMEL SAUCE)

approx. 2 lbs. chicken thighs and legs (we removed excess skin) / vegetable oil / 2 cloves minced garlic / 3 T. minced fresh ginger (powdered would be OK but use less) / 1 minced shallot / 2 T. fish sauce ( or as we did, mix two anchovies with 2 T. water) / 2 T. brown sugar / 1 T. sugar / salt and lots of black pepper / several dried red chiles or 1 t. cayenne pepper / about 1/3 cup water / green onions for garnish

1. Heat oil in a deep skillet and brown chicken on both sides over medium-high heat. Move poultry to the side of pan after 10 minutes or so and add in shallot, garlic and ginger.


2. Stir seasonings/veggies for 2 minutes.


3. Add fish sauce or anchovies, both kinds of sugar, salt, black pepper and chiles or cayenne.


4. Let cook for a minute or so, fiercely boiling, then add water.


5. Toss chicken well with all seasoning and sauce, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook on low heat for about 15 minutes.


6. When the sauce has become a reddish and brown syrup, add green onions, remove from heat and serve with plenty of plain rice.