Make a caramel sauce to coat the pan-fried chicken thighs. The sauce is made using red onion, garlic, ginger and coriander. Palm sugar is added for sweetness and the fish sauce and lime juice perfectly balance the taste of chicken. The fresh salad ties all flavours together in this Vietnamese Caramel Chicken Salad Recipe.
Vietnamese Caramel Chicken Salad Recipe
Serves 4 (6 as part of a shared meal)
Ingredients:
¼ cup peanut oil
1kg chicken thigh fillets, trimmed and cut into 5cm pieces
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp fresh ginger, finely grated
¼ cup coriander root and stem, finely chopped
⅓ cup palm sugar, finely grated
¼ cup fish sauce
¼ cup lime juice
Steamed jasmine rice, to serve
2 cos lettuce hearts, cut into quarters, to serve
Salad
250g vine tomatoes or medley tomatoes, cut into wedges
75g bean sprouts
½ cup Vietnamese mint leaves
1½ cups coriander leaves
2 medium red chillies, sliced on diagonal
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp palm sugar, shaved
⅓ cup crisp fried shallots
Method:
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wok over a high heat. Cook chicken in 3 batches, for 5 minutes, turning once, or until golden. Set aside.
Reduce heat to medium. Add onion, garlic, ginger and coriander to wok. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes.
Add palm sugar. Cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until caramelised. Stir in fish sauce and return chicken to wok. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 to 7 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove from the heat. Stir through lime juice. Transfer to a serving plate.
Meanwhile, to make salad, combine tomatoes, sprouts, herbs and chillies in a large bowl. Toss gently. Spoon over combined fish sauce, lime juice and palm sugar. Garnish with fried shallots.
Serve chicken with salad, lettuce hearts and jasmine rice.
