Step 1

Mix chicken with 1 Tbsp fish sauce and let it sit while you do the other things.

Step 2

To make the fish sauce caramel: In a small pot add the palm sugar and let it melt over medium heat. Allow it to caramelize until the sugar is a very dark brown, almost black. As the sugar darkens, stir it occasionally to even out the darkness. Once it's very dark brown, remove from heat and deglaze with the coconut water - it will sizzle aggressively. Put the pot back on the heat and keep it cooking for another minute until the sugar is all dissolved (a couple of undissolved bits stuck to the pot is okay). Turn off the heat and add the remaining 1 Tbsp of fish sauce and vinegar, set aside. Tip: You can make this sauce in bulk, in advance, as part of your meal prep, and it'll keep in the fridge forever.

Step 3

In a wok, on medium high heat, add the oil and sauté the ginger, shallots, garlic and black pepper until the shallots are translucent.

Step 4

Push the herbs aside, add the chicken, and spread it out in one layer, then scoop the herbs back on top of the chicken to protect them from the heat. (You can also remove the herbs from the pan for now to make this less clunky, but this method works fine). Let the chicken fry without moving it until some browning has developed on the underside of the chicken.

Step 5

Once the chicken has browned, add the caramel sauce and stir to mix. Simmer gently, uncovered, for about 15 mins, stirring every few minutes in between. You're looking for the chicken to be fork tender, and for the sauce to be thickened to a nice consistency.

Step 6

Once done, taste the sauce (this is very important!). It should be sweet and salty, but if it feels too strong/concentrated, add a small splash of water or coconut water to thin it out. If it tastes too weak/diluted, let it cook for a few minutes longer to reduce (to make this go faster you can remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and then just boil the heck out of the sauce to quickly reduce it).

Step 7

To finish, stir in chopped chilies if desired, then plate and top with green onions and/or cilantro. Serve with rice and a side of veggies (see below for some suggestions).