Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken

Step 1

Generously season chicken with salt.

Step 2

Heat oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet. Once it begins to shimmer, add chicken and brown on all sides. We’re not looking to cook the chicken completely through in this step - more like 75%. Remove chicken from the skillet and set aside.

Step 3

Using the same skillet, cook the garlic, ginger and red chilies for 30 seconds or so. Be gentle here, we don’t want to burn the garlic.

Step 4

Pour in the coconut cream and sugar. Bring to a low boil. Dissolve the cornstarch in the coconut aminos. Add the coconut aminos + cornstarch, fish sauce, and rice vinegar to the skillet.

Step 5

Reduce your heat to medium and cook the coconut caramel sauce for a few extra minutes to reduce and thicken, stirring often to avoid burning and boiling over.

Step 6

Add the pre-cooked chicken back in. Continue to cook the chicken the rest of the way through - the timing will depend on the size of your cubes. The sauce will continue to thicken nicely.  If you’re worried about over-cooking the chicken at this point, just drop your heat even lower.

Step 7

Food-safe chicken is not simply a function of getting it to hit a certain temperature, but also how long it is held at temperature. So chicken that is held at a lower temperature for longer is just as safe as chicken that’s been blasted on high heat.

Step 8

Stir in lime juice. Serve over a bed of rice (or cauliflower rice), garnish with cilantro, sliced scallions, a few fresh red chili slices. You can also add some fresh wedges as it compliments the coconut caramel wonderfully by cutting and balancing the sweetness.