Caramel sauce (Nuoc Mau) is a staple in a lot of Vietnamese recipes, especially many of the quick (sub 1 hour) dishes. There are many techniques ranging from an ice bath for the pot to pouring boiling water into the half melted sugar, but my favorite is just mixing the sugar and water right away and leaving it be. Simple, quick, and low effort. I like that! And, you can make a ton of it ahead of time and store it all in a jar.
So with that, I went poring through my favorite Vietnamese cookbook, Andrea Nguyen’s Into the Vietnamese Kitchen and immediately found something perfect for weeknights. I keep most of the ingredients around normally so all I needed to do was pick up some chicken thighs from Whole Foods, and fortunately enough they just opened one up in Dedham, super close to work! Now I have absolutely no excuse NOT to cook anymore, there are two Whole Foods, a Super Stop & Shop, and Lambert’s Rainbow Fruit on my drive home. And another Super Stop & Shop and Trader Joe’s not too far out of the way either. Though I’ll probably find some reason to be lazy one of these days, it’s in my blood =P
This goes well with a simple veggie stir-fry, I usually like some form of bok choy (or pea pod stems) quickly stir fried with some ginger and garlic.
Vietnamese Ginger Chicken with Caramel Sauce
Serves 4
Time : 40 minutes
Ingredients
- 1½ lb boneless chicken thighs, cubed
- 2-inch piece ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 scallion, green parts, chopped
For the caramel sauce:
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp water
Method:
1. Combine 3 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp water in a saucepan. On medium heat, melt the sugar, stirring occasionally. The mixture will slowly start to turn golden brown. Remove from heat once caramel becomes light brown. Should take about 15-20 minutes.
2. Add everything but the scallion into a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and then simmer for about 10 minutes, covered.
3. Remove lid, simmer for another 5 minutes, taste sauce. Add more fish sauce if necessary
4. Stir in scallions and immediately transfer to serving bowl.
Notes:
Adapted from Andrea Nguyen’s Into the Vietnamese Kitchen