Caramel Chicken Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S CARAMEL CHICKEN

Steps:

• Whisk brown sugar, water, fish sauce, rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger in a bowl until brown sugar is completely dissolved, about 1 minute. Set aside.
• Heat oil over high heat in a skillet. Stir in chicken.
• Pour 1/3 cup of the brown sugar mixture over chicken; cook and stir until the brown sugar mixture has a syrup-like consistency, 6 to 7 minutes.
• Pour in the remaining brown sugar mixture; cook until chicken is tender and no longer pink inside, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in in peanuts, jalapenos and green onion; cook until warmed through, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Garnish with cilantro and serve.

VIETNAMESE CARAMEL CHICKEN

Steps:

• Combine sugar, fish sauce, and black pepper in a shallow plate and turn chicken in the marinade. Set aside for 10 minutes.
• Combine water, fish sauce, sugar, and rice vinegar in a bowl. Set caramel sauce aside.
• Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil and pan-fry chicken, skin-side up, until bottoms turn slightly crispy and brown, about 5 minutes. Turn and cook until skin is slightly charred, about 5 minutes. Remove chicken from skillet and transfer to a plate.
• Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the skillet and cook garlic for 30 seconds. Return chicken to the skillet and add caramel sauce. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until chicken is no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear. Caramel sauce should be reduced and turn amber in color. Add jalapenos and cook for 1 more minute.

SPICY CARAMEL CHICKEN

Steps:

• Whisk grated ginger, garlic, brown sugar, rice vinegar, fish sauce, hot sauce, and soy sauce together in a large bowl.
• Place chicken chunks in a bowl. Pour 1/4 cup of the prepared sauce onto chicken chunks; mix until all chicken pieces are coated. Set aside 15 minutes.
• Heat vegetable oil in a heavy skillet over high heat. As soon as oil starts to smoke, place chicken chunks in a single layer in the pan. Cook and stir until chicken pieces start to caramelize and turn deep brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in sliced jalapeno and red peppers, peanuts, and green onions. Cook and stir one minute. Pour in remainder of sauce. Simmer until heated through, 1 or 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Stir in cilantro. Serve over hot cooked rice and top with chopped green onions.

CARAMEL CHICKEN

Steps:

• In a large skillet heat oil over medium high heat. Season chicken with salt and cook until golden brown on each side until crisp and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
• Add garlic cloves to skillet until golden brown about 2 minutes. Transfer to the plate of chicken.
• Return pot to medium high heat and carefully pour 1/2 cup of water scraping down the browned bits. Whisk in the brown sugar until dissolved. Then cook until mixture turns a deep amber color. About 4 minutes. Carefully add vinegar and stir to dissolve.
• Add garlic, broth and soy sauce. Bring cooking liquid to a boil and whisk occasionally. This takes about 10 minutes. Be patient. The sauce will thicken and glaze the chicken beautifully.
• Once glaze is ready, turn heat to medium low and return chicken to pan until heated through. Serve over rice and garnish with scallions or green onions if desired.

CARAMEL CHICKEN

Steps:

• Whisk dark brown sugar, rice vinegar, water, fish sauce, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and crushed red pepper together in a bowl until sugar is completely dissolved.
• Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add chicken; cook until skin is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Pour in 1/2 cup of the brown sugar mixture. Cook and stir until sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes more.
• Pour in remaining sauce; cook until the juices run clear, 10 to 12 minutes. An instant-read thermometer should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C). Top with green onions.

CARAMEL CHICKEN

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Combine sugar and water in a high sided sauce pot. Bring to boil and simmer until the sugar turns a dark caramel color, but not burnt. Do not stir the sugar while cooking or it may crystallize. Add the chicken broth (the broth will boil quickly and spatter because of the hot sugar so be careful. This is the reason for the high sided pan). Stir in the broth and continue stirring over low heat until the sugar dissolves, then add the fish sauce and soy sauce. Set aside.
• Season the chicken pieces with the salt. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet and brown the chicken pieces on all sides. In the same pan, (using the extra vegetable oil if needed) sauté the ginger, garlic, onion and jalapeno over medium heat for a couple minutes until soft and fragrant. Add the browned chicken pieces and the caramel sauce, turning the chicken in the caramel broth to coat all sides. Arrange the chicken in the pan so it is all submerged in the sauce as much as possible and bring the pot to a boil. Cover the pot, put in the oven and braise until done, about 35-45 minutes.
• While chicken is cooking, combine the green onion and the other herbs and set aside.
• Serve the chicken over your favorite rice, with the herbs sprinkled on top. I like jasmine rice.