Recipe video above. Vietnamese caramel sauce is a popular sweet/savoury used in Vietnamese dishes. Here, it's used for bite size chicken pieces that get coated in the glaze with a generous dose of ginger. It's quick, easy, something different and outrageously good!** NOTE: Sadly seeing reader feedback that the liquid isn't reducing and chicken isn't caramelising. Please ensure to use a LARGE PAN and be brave, simmer RAPIDLY! Else the liquid will take ages to reduce. See Note 4.**
Toss chicken with fish sauce and chilli, then set aside while you prepare the other ingredients. You could marinate even overnight but it's not necessary.
Pan size - Use a large non-stick pan (mine is 30cm/12", must be large). Else, be prepared to remove chicken at end to speed up sauce reduction. See Note 4!
Caramel - Mix oil and sugar in the cold pan, then turn onto medium high heat. As soon as the sugar is melted, remove the pan from the stove then carefully add the chicken (⚠️ it will sizzle so don't throw it in!) . Add ginger and shallots, toss briefly. The caramel may harden, that's ok, it will re-melt.
Cook outside of chicken - Then put the pan back on the stove and stir just until the chicken changes from pink to white all over, but not browned, and definitely not cooked through.
Simmer 10 min - Add water, stir, bring to a simmer. Simmer very rapidly, still on medium high (or even high!), for 10 to 12 minutes, until the liquid reduces right down to a glaze. It might take longer if your pan is smaller or your stove is weaker, that's ok. Stir every now and then while watery, then once it's reduced down to a glaze, toss regularly to get nice colour on the chicken. The further you take it, the better the colour!
Recipe adapted from Eat Like a Viet cookbook by Jenny Lam, after eating this at PhatLon, her Vietnamese restaurant in Perth. 1. Chicken - I cut most into 4, some into 3. You want them quite large so they don't dry out during the required simmer time.Breast - not recommended, it will dry out by the time the sauce reduces. However, if you want to use breast, I'd probably use the whole breast (2), split in half (to make 4 thin steaks), start the cook in the caramel, take them out, let the sauce reduce to a glaze then coat. Bit risky to get timing right without overcooking.2. Chilli - optional, adds the tiniest background hint of heat (longer you cook fresh chilli, less spicy it is, also the sweet dominates here).3. Eschalots –Also known as French onions, and called “shallots” in the US. Look like baby onions, but have purple-skinned flesh, are finer and sweeter, so they disappear into the glaze better than regular onions. Not to be confused with what some people in Australia call “shallots” ie the long green onions.Sub with finely sliced red or regular onions.4. PAN / sauce reduction / caramelisation - You need a large pan (30cm/12"+) so the chicken isn't crowded else the liquid takes AGES to reduce. Also, be brave and simmer super rapidly so the liquid reduces faster, and once it's reduced down to a sticky glaze, stir the chicken in the oil left in the pan to get the nice caramelisation on it.If you're pan is too small, remove chicken after 12 minutes using slotted spoon and reduce liquid down to glaze (fast, without chicken). then toss chicken back in.5. Leftovers will keep for 3 days in the fridge. Freezing - haven't tried but I see no reason why it wouldn't freeze perfectly well!Nutrition per serving, chicken only (no rice).