Gà Kho Gừng (Vietnamese Caramel-Braised Chicken with Ginger) For Two
By Lan LamPublished on December 2, 2024
Time
55 minutes
Yield
Serves 2
Ingredients
Before You Begin
It's worth deboning chicken thighs here so that you can retain the skin. Boneless, skin-on thighs are a rare find, but if you do find them, buy 12 ounces for this recipe. We developed this recipe with Three Crabs brand fish sauce. If you’re cooking on an electric stovetop, preheat a second burner to medium-low heat; when the sugar reaches a honey color in step 3, transfer the saucepan to the second burner and continue cooking. Serve with steamed jasmine rice, thinly sliced red Thai chiles, and sliced cucumbers.
Instructions
- Slice 1 inch ginger into matchsticks. Smash remaining ½ inch ginger. Place all ginger in bowl with shallot and garlic.
- Place 1 chicken thigh skin side down on cutting board. Using sharp paring knife, trim excess skin and fat, leaving enough skin to cover meat. Cut slit along length of thigh bone to expose bone. Using tip of knife, cut/scrape meat from bone. Slip knife under bone to separate bone from meat. Discard bone and trim any remaining cartilage from thigh. Keeping thigh skin side down, cut into 1½-inch pieces, leaving as much skin attached as possible. Repeat with remaining thighs.
- Place sugar in medium saucepan and shake to spread into even layer. Add oil and cook over medium-high heat, without stirring, until sugar begins to change color, 2 to 3 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until sugar is color of honey, 15 to 30 seconds. (Oil will begin to smoke.) Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar bubbles vigorously and is color of soy sauce, about 1 minute longer.
- Immediately add ginger mixture and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add chicken and cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is no longer pink, about 2 minutes.
- Add coconut water and fish sauce and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid reduces by half, 12 to 15 minutes. (Sauce should taste heavily seasoned, suitable for serving with rice.) Cover and continue to cook until chicken is tender, 10 to 12 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to serving bowl and sprinkle with cilantro, if using. Serve.
Time
55 minutesYield
Serves 2Ingredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
This classic of Vietnamese home cooking derives its flavors primarily from the combination of fish sauce and a burnt caramel syrup called nu’o´’c màu. We made a small batch of the syrup by cooking sugar in oil until the sugar bubbled and darkened to the color of soy sauce. We stopped the cooking by adding the aromatics—ginger, shallot, and garlic—and cooking them until they had softened. We deboned chicken thighs and cut them into small pieces to make the dish easy to eat, and we preserved the skin to infuse the sauce with collagen. Braising the chicken in fish sauce, the nu’o´’c màu, and coconut water seasons it thoroughly and renders it tender. We used taste to determine when the braise was finished: The thin sauce should taste heavily seasoned by itself but perfectly calibrated for drizzling on rice.
Want more? Read the whole storyBefore You Begin
It's worth deboning chicken thighs here so that you can retain the skin. Boneless, skin-on thighs are a rare find, but if you do find them, buy 12 ounces for this recipe. We developed this recipe with Three Crabs brand fish sauce. If you’re cooking on an electric stovetop, preheat a second burner to medium-low heat; when the sugar reaches a honey color in step 3, transfer the saucepan to the second burner and continue cooking. Serve with steamed jasmine rice, thinly sliced red Thai chiles, and sliced cucumbers.
Instructions
- Slice 1 inch ginger into matchsticks. Smash remaining ½ inch ginger. Place all ginger in bowl with shallot and garlic.
- Place 1 chicken thigh skin side down on cutting board. Using sharp paring knife, trim excess skin and fat, leaving enough skin to cover meat. Cut slit along length of thigh bone to expose bone. Using tip of knife, cut/scrape meat from bone. Slip knife under bone to separate bone from meat. Discard bone and trim any remaining cartilage from thigh. Keeping thigh skin side down, cut into 1½-inch pieces, leaving as much skin attached as possible. Repeat with remaining thighs.
- Place sugar in medium saucepan and shake to spread into even layer. Add oil and cook over medium-high heat, without stirring, until sugar begins to change color, 2 to 3 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally until sugar is color of honey, 15 to 30 seconds. (Oil will begin to smoke.) Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar bubbles vigorously and is color of soy sauce, about 1 minute longer.
- Immediately add ginger mixture and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add chicken and cook, stirring frequently, until chicken is no longer pink, about 2 minutes.
- Add coconut water and fish sauce and bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid reduces by half, 12 to 15 minutes. (Sauce should taste heavily seasoned, suitable for serving with rice.) Cover and continue to cook until chicken is tender, 10 to 12 minutes longer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to serving bowl and sprinkle with cilantro, if using. Serve.
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