This stunning dish is an amazing combination of sweet, spicy, and salty flavors all sticking to succulent pieces of chicken.
Just made this for dinner tonight. Delicious! I wasn't prepared to make it, so had to do some substitutions. (White onions for green onions, more soy sauce for the fish sauce) Even with the substitutions, this spicy dish was superb served over brown rice.
Read More(I thought) I followed the recipe exactly and it took an hour for the sauce to reduce! We eventually ate and everyone loved it (or maybe everyone was just starving). I will try it again and omit the water. I cooked it in a wok...maybe that was my problem /:
Read MoreJust made this for dinner tonight. Delicious! I wasn't prepared to make it, so had to do some substitutions. (White onions for green onions, more soy sauce for the fish sauce) Even with the substitutions, this spicy dish was superb served over brown rice.
Really good! I omitted the water after a first try because it's a lot easier to reduce the sauce. I like to use Thai chili sauce instead of Jalapenos because I always have it on hand, that way I can really slam it together if I get the urge.
WOW, this is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!! My thighs were pretty big, so I cut my pieces a bit smaller. The flavors here are perfect! This could not have been easier to make, but it really seems like you spent some time in the kitchen. Served this over jasmine rice. I will be making this over and over, which is not gonna be good for my waistline, lol...SOOOO GOOD, and definitly worthy of more than 5 stars~YUM! Thanks for sharing. :)
Chef John, I'd like to meet you some day and give you a big ol' hug! I love the way you cook. I made this for my boys and everyone was amazed by how good it was. And for such a simple dish, it had a really complex flavor that knocked all our socks off! The recipe is versatile enough to accommodate what you have on hand, or for your personal tastes. I didn't have fish sauce, so I substituted with about a teaspoon of anchovy paste in 1/3 cup soy sauce. The fresh jalapeno didn't appeal to me, so instead, I used 1 1/2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes. The key ingredients for the sauce are the soy/fish sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, garlic and ginger. If you start there and add/subtract what you like/don't like, this will always be a hit. For those of you who had trouble getting the sauce to thicken; this dish must be cooked on high heat for the entire cooking time in order to achieve the right caramelization on the chicken and to get the sauce to reduce. I used the entire amount of water called for and my reduction took between 10-15 minutes. The sauce will bubble and foam. That's ok. That's what you're looking for to get it to reduce. Don't be afraid of how hard it boils. Let it do what it do!!! DO NOT USE BREAST MEAT! Boneless, skinless thighs can withstand the high temperatures required to make this dish. Breast meat will dry out way before your sauce is properly reduced. Fantastic with a side of steamed broccoli with a bit of the sauce drizzled over it. YUM!!
This recipe was absolutely fantastic! Make sure you watch the video before making it because it's got some crucial things in it.
This was so good. I really can't say enough good things about it. Only made 3 changes, I used oyster sauce instead of fish (just what I had) no cilantro no one likes it, and no jalapeno (didn't have any)! I will make this again!
4 1/2 Stars- but I'll round up! Seriously one of the best Asian Chicken recipes I've ever made. The chicken was a perfect combination of sweet and spicy, the 1/2 star I took off was because I found the recipe a bit too salty. I'm sure this will probably vary depending on the brands of soy/fish sauce you use. I would start light on both then add if needed. I made half a recipe for my boyfriend and I with a side of sesame green beans and brown rice. I was worried it wouldn't be enough food as I only had 3 chicken thighs, but it was perfect, if not too much food. I had no troubles with the liquid ratio, but I did have a big pan with not much meat (and a gas stove). I would tend to think that maybe the people who are having trouble may be overcrowding the pan. All in all this is a wow-worthy recipe, definitely suitable for company. I'll be making this again!
(I thought) I followed the recipe exactly and it took an hour for the sauce to reduce! We eventually ate and everyone loved it (or maybe everyone was just starving). I will try it again and omit the water. I cooked it in a wok...maybe that was my problem /:
I am ONLY reviewing the sauce because I went in a different direction with my chicken. I used rotisserie chicken thighs and French cut green beans and almonds. I made the sauce exactly as written and just reduced it down, then added my chicken, green beans and almonds to heat through. Served over brown Jasmine rice with egg rolls on the side. The sauce is *wonderful* and would be good on just about any Asian-inspired sauce you chose to use it in. I will definitely make this again, maybe even as written sometime! But I dunno, my version is going to be hard to beat. :-)
Very good. So easy and tastes so good. I cut the chicken into smaller pieces and finished off the dish under the broiler. (My skillet is oven proof.) This recipe is a keeper.
Delish! Didn't have dark brown sugar, so I used light brown sugar and added a little molasses. Next time, and there will be a next time, I'm adding a little red pepper flakes to give it some heat.
I've made this recipe twice now and really like it. The other reviewers are correct - the added water makes the caramelization process take forever. Therefore if you add the full amount of water, cut your chicken in larger pieces so you won't overcook. Watch the jalapenos because the second time I got some that were extra spicy from the international market (even with seeds removed) and we almost couldn't eat it.
Hi this is the first recipe I've ever rated, and I'm a fairly decent cook, but I have to say that this came out restaurant quality. I didn't have fish sauce so I just substituted for soy sauce, I also didn't have jalepenos so I added quite a few hits of Siracha sauce and one pinch of red pepper flakes to give it a kick. I also didn't have chicken thighs so I grilled up some boneless-skinless chicken breasts, sliced them when cooked and tossed them in the sauce after it had been reduced. If you start the chicken on the grill at the same time as the sauce and rice you should have no problem for the length of time other users commented about the sauce reducing, and then everything finishes at the same time. I did cut up some green onion after I took the chicken dressed in the sauce off the heat, and finished with some toasted sesame seeds. Yum! I couldn't believe how easy this was to make given how fantastic the sauce comes out. I will be making this one again and again! THANKS so much for sharing!
I did everything exactly as indicated in the recipe and it blew me away. This dish was tasty and looked great on the plate served over white rice. I'll be making it again and again! Thanks again, Chef John!
OMG - I was a little skeptical such a simple recipe would be good but it was AWESOME! Will have to double the recipe next time as the family LOVED it!
This was really good. Hubby, who hates sweet main dishes, said "Don't lose this recipe. It tastes like the stuff from the Thai restaurant." The balance of sweet, salty, spicy was perfect. After reading all the reviews I did cut the water down to 1 tablespoon but otherwise did not change a thing. The cooking times were just right. The sauce was a golden, sticky, spicy and delicious!
So very tasty! I've made the recipe to the T, as well with a few modifications and it always turns out fantastic. To ensure the sauce comes out nice and thick in a timely fashion, I drain the liquid from cooking chicken in the pan before I add the 1/3 c sauce. Then I whisk some cornstarch into the remaining sauce. The salt in the various sauces can add up so I use low sodium soy sauce. When I've not had fish sauce I've used Pad Thai sauce. When the chicken is done cooking, I've put it on a cookie sheet and let it sit under the boiler for a few minutes, which further caramelizes it & gives a little bit of a crispier texture. I usually serve with Basmatti rice.
My first Chef John's recipe ever.. This was a little time consuming for me.. I bought 3.5lbs of chicken and had a lot of trimming to do. I doubled the recipe for I was feeding 7 ppl. Turns out I didn't need all that sauce. Didn't have fish sauce or peanuts, but still flavorful. It went over a bed of brown rice. I will make this again!
First I marinaded bone-in chicken thighs in the sauce for a few hours, then removed the chicken from the marinade, dredged the pieces in a mix of flour and New Mexico red chile powder, then pan fried in olive oil until browned on both sides. I then added shitake mushrooms and the remaining marinade, then let it come to a boil for about 10 minutes. I then added bok choy and napa cabbage and simmered. I then removed a little of the sauce from the pan and spooned it into a measuring cup, mixed in some potato starch as a thickener, and added mirin wine to the chicken and vegetable mixture and let it cook down. I then added the thickened sauce and some cooked rice noodles, allowing the flavors to meld over low heat for another 10 minutes or so. Incredibly delicious!
Great dish! Flavorful and quick. Used regular brown sugar as I did not have the dark. Did not have the fish sauce or the peanuts but it did not matter. Will be cooking this again!
Oh wow, this was fantastic!! I'm eating, no, savoring the leftovers for lunch right now. I used oyster sauce instead of fish and regular brown sugar vs. dark. I skipped the green onions and added red pepper flakes, used minced garlic instead of cloves and ground ginger instead of fresh. Served with the Easy Bok Choy recipe from this site and white rice. This is a definite keeper, thanks Chef John!!!!
Delicious! Fabulous!! Only substitution I made was cutting up chicken breasts instead of using thighs because it was what I had. The breast chunks were a little tough, so don't overcook, but the sauce was amazing. Excellent recipe, Chef John!!
Fantastic! The recipe is right on and has the perfect amount of sauce to serve over white rice, OH and by the way the sauce is delicious!!
This recipe was great! I didn't have jalapenos so I sprinkled some crushed red pepper. Loved the flavor!
DELICIOUS!!! I made it for my roommates and they loved it! I followed the recipe exactly (minus the peanuts and fish sauce 'cause I didn't have any) and it turned out great! ***WARNING: This is a somewhat-difficult and long recipe to make if you are using fresh items and are following the recipe exactly. Be prepared to be cooking for 1 1/2 hours. With that said, IT IS SOOOOO WORTH IT!*** Here are some recommendations when cooking: 1) FISH SAUCE SUBSTITUTE: .25 cup soy sauce + 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce + 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime/lemon juice ***NOTE*** Nothing bets the funky flavour of real fish sauce. The substitute is an alternative, not a exact replacement for its flavour. 2) STEP 3: There is alot of sauce here. Use only 1/4 of sauce (AND NO MORE THAN THAT!!!) to caramelize the chicken, and put the remaining 3/4 in a saucepan to boil at the same time. Once the chicken begins caramelized, pour a ladle-full from the saucepan onto the chicken, wait until sauce has thickened until desired, and repeat until all sauce from the saucepan is gone. 3) FRESH CILANTRO IS CLUTCH TO THIS RECIPE! It really cuts through the flavour and gives you a fresh palate for the next bite. I suggest you cut the whole leaves in half before garnishing. 4) Serve on white rice ONLY!!! I would explain it if I could, but I can't. You must use white rice for this meal. Nothing else works as well. 5) WATCH THE VIDEO FOR THIS RECIPE!!! It really helps when cooking. Bon appetit!
Yum! And quickly joining the ranks as a favorite stand-by dinner. Follow the recipe exactly, it's wonderful. This was the first time I used fish sauce. When I opened the bottle, and smelled it I was very hesitant, thinking I was about to destroy my food. But I buckled down, trusted Chef John, and it was totally worth it. Its a keeper. Btw-if you can't get the chicken to caramelize you may need a wider, shallower pan. Luck.
I made this last night....man oh man was it tasty. Just finished the lunch leftovers! This sauce is amazing! I followed it except I didn't have cilantro. I'll def make again. I have about 4 sauces from this site and I swear by them all, never use bottled sauce again! Thanks Chef John, you never disappoint.
This was the bomb! And so easy!! Chef John doesn't recommend breast meat but that was what I had. So, I made the sauce, removed 1/3 cup to caramelize when cooking the chicken and reduced the rest before starting the chicken. Adding the already reduced sauce cut down on cook time so the breast meat remained moist. Don't forget the peanuts & scallions! They make an already amazing dish even better. I did use fresh flatleaf parsley instead of cilantro. Thanks, Chef John, great dish!
Told it was the Bomb by guests. Made this after watching video and now twice a month I cook it. It is so delicious, quick, simple and most impotant to me with econimy, cheap.
Another fantastic, no-hassle recipe by Chef John. Made exactly as written. When making this again, we might tweak the brown sugar mixture to slightly tone down the sweet & salty tastes but it’s already close to perfection. Watch the video as it provides a few helpful tips, especially about caramelizing the chicken. Chef John’s creative artistry, user friendly recipes, and instructional videos can make just about anyone a great cook if able to follow his simple instructions. Chef John, your contributions are widely admired.
We didn't have cilantro or green onions. I had to sub pecans for the peanuts and it was still good. I was worried the jalapeno wouldn't really match the other flavours and I think it added just the right kick! I did find it very sweet so I may cut the sugar to 1/2 cup next time. I will make this again very soon. So glad to have this recipe.
Chef John is my favorite recipe source and I always enjoy his recipes. This recipe was very good, but a bit salty for my taste. I used 3 Crabs fish sauce.=
Made this tonight and followed the recipe to a T. OMG it was out of this world. The sweet, tangy, spicy, and salty flavors were perfectly blended. All of the well-chosen Asian ingredients give this recipe a professional flare. I will definitely be making this again.
Need to flour the chicken, as well as add to sauce at the end-makes for a thicker sauce. Have been making a recipe pretty close to this one & it has NEVER failed me. It was the 1st dish I cooked my boyfriend for dinner, & he saw what a great cook I was. Soon to be married after 8 years!!! Restaurant quality!!!!!
i didn't have any jalapenos, cilantro, or peanuts so i just made the sauce with the ginger and garlic. it was a little too sweet and it took longer than 20 to make even with my stove on high to get the liquid to thicken, even with added a little of the sauce first to thicken. But, it was still good just a little to sweet, maybe i just needed the spicy to balance the sweetness.
Just fantastic! Pretty easy, and amazingly good. Trying my second time tonight-- last time, the sauce was a little runny, so I'll cut down on the water.
What an amazing recipe. Might be the best chicken I've ever made. In fact, it's only 8am and I'm craving it right now! A lot of reviewers said they couldn't get the chicken to caramelize, so here's the secret: you have to cook it a long time before you add the sauce. More than 6-7 minutes. (If you use thighs, overcooking won't be a problem. Chicken breasts won't do well with this recipe.) Cook until the chicken is seared a dark brown and the sauce sticks to the bottom of the pan. I didn't have jalapeño so I added a little red pepper, but not too much as I have a 6 yr old. I also took other reviewers' advice and didn't add water. All four of my kids loved this recipe as much as I did.
Pretty much followed recipe as is, just added broccoli. Put over black rice and it was phenomenal.
This was the best recipe I have tried from this place in a long time. I used the ingredients exactly as specified, except, believe it or not, my Kroger was out of jalapenos. I used some Anaheim peppers but of course they are not as hot, so I added a little red pepper flake. As others have said, watch the video before you make this and you will get some good tips and a feeling for what the chicken should look like in the first step. Make sure you use plenty of heat on the stove. It took me a little more than 12 minutes to get it caramelized. You are looking for a mahogany color and caramel starting to stick to the pan, with most of the liquid gone. Served over brown rice. Will definitely make again. The video warns you not to substitute chicken breasts as they tend to dry out. I'm glad I went with the thighs as directed. Very moist and flavorful.
Another winner from Chef John :-) And another recipe where the list of ingredients is wrong :-( In the video, he makes a point of saying 1t of Soy Sauce because the Fish Sauce makes it sufficiently salty. The ingredients say 1T of Soy Sauce. Glad he pointed it out in the video - saved me from overly salty dinner. Chef John is absolutely wonderful and we love his all his recipes. Once again suggesting however that he consider having someone proof read the posted recipes for him.
This was very good. Quite easy to put together and VERY tasty. I had small potatoes, steamed them and used them in lieu of rice. So adaptable! Thanks John.
I followed it exactly, including having the 1/3 cup of water. I had no problems with it reducing as other reviewers had. It is a super easy recipe and definitely, definitely, definitely cook this on HIGH. Don't reduce the temperature at all until you get the consistency of the sauce that you want. Watch the video, it is extremely helpful as well.
This is an excellent way to change up chicken. We served it over saffron rice and everybody raved! This has become a new favorite. Thank you.
WOW - I followed the recipe as written and thought this dish was AWESOME. I cant wait to have company to show this off to. I think that the fish sauce and jalepenos are necessary to make this dish taste right. The fish sauce is easy to come by ($2.99 at my regular grocery) and even tho I didnt eat the jalepenos, they made the sauce just the right amount of spicy. Thanks Chef John
Very important to carmelize the chicken, it seriously changes the texture and flavor of the entire dish.
Thought this was going to be awful when I smelled the Fish Sauce, but it actually turned out great!!
I'm not sure what happened, after reading all the fabulous reviews, I thought this would be easy and delicious! But it was terrible! The smell alone was enough to make me gag! The fish sauce maybe??
Wow! How delicious is this! Chef Jon knocks it out of the park with this one. Before it's all cooked and combined there's an off smell about all those ingredients in one place. However when cooking and you finally add the dry ingredients it all really comes together and the smell is amazing! Just make this. It's worth it.
A-MAZING! This is seriously THE best made at home Asian dish I've made. Simple, delish...I can't say enough!! I L-O-V-E Chef John!!!
awesome! just made this using the 6 serving list and this is excellent. Just as Chef John detailed in his video....easy to make too. I cut up chicken, onions, jalapenos earlier in the day to save some time but it's really not that involved anyway. I even used low salt peanuts and low sodium soy sauce just to keep salt content as low as possible and served over rice. A keeper.
I made this and both Hubby and 2 year old loved it! I did leave out the jalapenos, because I didn't have any, but in the future would add probably 1 even with the baby eating it. I served it with coconut rice and sauteed cabbage, that was a great suggestion!! In reading the reviews and because I used 10 big thighs rather than 8 it did take a lot longer for the chicken to cook and the sauce to thicken... Seriously, I thought some of the thighs were breasts.. except they had plenty of flavor, which breasts don't This will go into regular rotation, as it was easy, the sauce cooked up beautifully and the peanut cilantro topping was so pretty that really wanted to take pictures. I did chop the cilantro and stir it in a bit rather than simply leave it on top...same with the peanuts. 5 stars!
great taste- but my sauce didn't thicken up. will make again and try to figure that out.
All in all it was good but a bit too salty for me. Maybe less fish sauce. I know the cilantro is garnish but I did enjoy eating it with the chicken to offset the salt and add a nice fresh taste.
My six-year old ate it, but it was way too salty for me. I didn't have peanuts, so I used slivered almonds and sprinkled more in after I realized how salty the chicken was. I'd adjust the fish sauce/tamari measurements and add unsalted peanuts or cashews plus green beans or something veg next time. I had roasted romanesco and it went well with the dish when I mixed it in to cut the saltiness of the chicken.
Chef John is the best! I love all his recipes, but this one stands out as spectacular. It's so easy, and the flavors are marvelously complex and rich. We practically licked our plates. I did not, and would not, change a single thing. This blows away any of those syrups full of junk in a bottle. Thank you Chef John.
Tried this one last night and we loved it! This one is going into my recipe box for certain!
Awesome dish, tastes super authentic. I had to cook it a little longer then the times mentioned.
Thank you Chef John!! My family loved this. I tasted it before I served it and I thought it was to sweet, but once you put it over rice, the rice cuts the sweetness. I'm a baker so I packed the brown sugar, next time I won't and see what the family says. This recipe is easy and packs lots of compliments.
This recipe is delicious! My husband and two boys loved it and gave it two thumbs up :) My 3-year-old said it was better than macaroni and cheese ... that's quite a compliment :)
This is my Husband's favorite! It is the only recipe that could convince me to keep fish sauce on hand!
Based on the reviews on this recipe, I took a chance and made it for company without a test run. Chef John did not let me down! Rave reviews. I was asked for the recipe, which I was quite happy to share! :o) I discovered that Chef John has many recipes on here, so I will definitely be finding more "new favorites". My husband even said to me: "Thank you for finding that recipe....it's delicious! Definitely a keeper." Thank you, Chef!
If there were 10 stars I'd give it that. This is excellent! It's easy to prepare, easy to cook and tastes like it took much longer. I served this with couscous, but next time I think Jasmine rice would be better. I can see making this once every couple of months. The dear ones just loved this.
This was really good. I watched the video since some people mentioned that it was helpful in getting the sauce to come out right. I didn't have fish sauce so subbed oyster sauce. Instead of jalapenos, I sliced two bell peppers (going for kid friendly). At the end, I added a bit of Thai chili sauce for spice (to the dishes of the people in the family who like some kick to it) since I'd skipped the jalapenos. Will definitely make again.
This was really good. I would use 3 peppers instead of 2 but it all depends on how spicy you like your food:) I would probably only use half of what's called for water. I added some more brown sugar to thicken the sauce. I also kept the peanuts until the very end and used them as garnish along with the cilantro. It was crunchy, sweet and spicy. I took precooked and cooled rice and fried it in a pan with sesame oil, lemon grass paste and green onions. It was the perfect match! Super easy recipe and tastes amazing! - Jason
This was so good my husband let me make it twice in one week! The sauce is simple and so tasty I love it!
This was absolutely delicious and I had to share it with everyone I know that has an allrecipe account. I served it with fried rice--we all have been fighting over the leftovers. WOW!!!
I followed the directions on the video to the letter. I noticed the written instructions were not the same as the video's. In the video he did not give a time duration on when the mixture will reduce, which took me about 20 minutes to reduce. This also gives the chicken time to cook through and give it a little color, so don't omit the water like others have been suggesting. Give this dish about 45 minutes to complete start to finish.
Loved it! Excellent recipe! Served over jasmine rice. Made as directed, didn't really "caramelize" but nonetheless delicious and easy to make. I might double the sauce next time to have some extra to serve over the rice. The jalapeño peppers added the spicy kick that we love. Will definitely make again!!!
Beautiful flavours, A few changes helped. Cooked chicken in all brown sugar mixture until done , removed chicken and thickened sauce with 2 teaspoons of cornflour in 50ml of water. Then added final spices and returned chicken.
Great recipe: easy to make, great flavor! I will make this over and over. I had a few subs just based on what I had on hand (soy for fish sauce, sriracha for jalepenos and a spoon of peanut butter for peanuts). I omitted the water like some other readers as well. I also added some sliced sweet red pepper with the chicken. I imagine you could make a little extra sauce and add a whole bunch of veggies and it would be fabulous.
Easy to do, tasty with a slight asian taste, this recipe is a keeper. Since trying it 2 years ago I do it minimum once a month.
Used oyster sauce instead of fish sauce, 1 1/2tsp of chilli flakes instead of jalepenos, white onions instead of green onions (added in the beginning). For more flavor add a little more garlic, ginger and soy sauce.
Really good as written. I did have an issue with reducing the sauce...my error. I doubled the recipe and tried to cook it all in a wok. Too crowded. Had to drain the chicken several times to remove natural juices, remove 1/2 the chicken and cook in two shallow pans... then no problem. I let my 8 and 10 year olds watch the video and cook the second time we had it. Its that easy. Also husband and I did low carb it by serving over shredded cabbage and topping with bean sprouts. Next time over califlower rice. This is a keeper
Made exactly as written, and this was delicious! I served the caramel chicken over rice. Everyone in my family enjoyed this, so I believe it was well balanced in sweet, salt, and spice areas. Those having trouble with liquid absorption, you must keep your pan on "high" heat through the cooking process and add the liquid two different times, as noted in the directions. I cooked this in my extra large cast iron skillet and it caramelized exactly as suggested. Look forward to making again, thanks Chef John!
Loved it! Used sweet peppers instead of jalapenos, hot peppers are not allowed here. I did have more liquid than I thought I would, as the juices from the chicken were more than the 1/3 cup of brown sugar mixture that I added, but I just cooked it longer until it finally got down to syrup consistency. That added a good 25 minutes to the cooking time. It was a little too salty, next time I'll use unsalted peanuts.
well, i watched the video before making, but maybe i shouldn't have. i started cooking the chicken; added a third of the sauce as mentioned. the chicken gave off so much water (and i used organic if that makes a difference) that i wound up spooning out a ton of water, along with the sauce. had to do that a couple of times. so, after the pan was sufficiently dry, i added the rest of the sauce. it took about another 10 - 15 mins for the sauce to thicken and brown the chicken. i didn't have or add peanuts or the green onions. i had to use 'rooster sauce' for the heat. we all liked it so i may make it again.
This was really good. I had to make a couple of minor substitutions (cilantro paste in the final cooking stages - which was delightful, and Thai garlic/chili sauce rather than jalepenos. I did cut back one clove of garlic in the sauce due to the garlic/chili sauce addition). It was seriously yummy, and would be so open to other creative additions, like mango and peppers to create a stir-fry.
My sister made this when I was there for a visit. It was so amazingly delicious! The only change she made was to reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup. She served it over brown rice. I had the left overs for lunch the next day, and they were fabulous!
Thanks Chef John for another simple and delicious chicken recipe. This is easy to make, inexpensive, and good enough for company. Make a little extra because it is even better reheated the next day for lunch. I'd make it more often but it is high in calories, so we save it for special meals.
Holy Smoke. This is stunning, amazing, hot and spicy. So pleasurable. Followed the advice to eliminate water. Substituted powdered cayenne for jalapenos only because I thought had some...and didn't. After helping myself to a plate I served it up in a baking dish on brown rice. My husband thinks if it's in a casserole dish it must be something his mother shared with me. HAHA.
I was very excited to try this recipe. We love Asian foods of all variety and this looked and sounded great. I'm clearly in the minority on this one, but we found this to be very sweet. Too sweet. I followed the recipe faithfully. After the first few bites, I chopped another bunch of green onion and tossed that in. That helped but not enough. We still found the sweetness to be overpowering, almost cloying. Perhaps adding something like broccoli would help cut that, but as it is we won't be repeating this recipe.
This recipe was pretty good!...but I got tired of eating it later on since I used to eat something similar to this. My sister loved it and was jealous of my cooking. I didn't had rice vinegar so I didn't use any substitution for that. As for dark brown sugar, I didn't had any so I used white sugar with 3 tiny drops of honey. I finished cooking the chicken in 6 minutes in a heavy skillet. Oh I used 1 chicken breast instead of chicken thighs. Also I used a variety nuts that I got from Costco and then I crushed them up in a sandwich bag. P.S. I did two servings of this instead of 4.
I made this last night and here are a couple of things I learned: 1)It’s pretty delicious. 2)Definitely watch the video first- Chef John gives the reassurance that you cannot really burn this but you can quit too soon. The difference between the point I started to get nervous (hot bubbling molten lava) and 2 minutes more on high heat was a DELICIOUS caramel crunch. IF you wimp out too soon won’t have the mahogany color and deep flavor you want. (per video) 3)Don’t put too much sauce in with the chicken- I added a touch too much and it took a while to get to kind of the dyrish syrup stage and caramelize the chicken. 4)Add all the jalapeño. I only added one (and we like spicy) and for our taste the dish can handle all the heat- as it’s really the sweet, salty and spicy that makes this exceptional. 5) Make extra and freeze it. This should freeze wonderfully- and easy enough to reheat and add the fresh ingredients at the end.
Loved this dish. I really like spicey food so next time I make it I will add 1 or 2 more jalapenos. This will be added to my regular rotation.
I always try a recipe the first time by following the directions exactly, which is what I did here. Only left out the peanuts as they seemed stale when I pulled them out of the pantry. This was fantastic and truly restaurant quality. I loved it and my gourmet-in-in-the-making ten year old was raving about it. He said it smelled wonderful while cooking, said it looked great before he tried it, and then followed that with a Woohoo and requests for seconds and thirds. If that is not a win.... Don't know what is. Even hubby who hates ethnic dishes of all kind and usually answers in the negative when I ask "should I make this again" said it's ok. At my house this is the best I can expect for a new recipe. Next time doubling the quantity to have leftovers for lunch. Do watch the video, and if you like a mix of sweet and salty with a bit of spice, go for it. Some of the commenters who left negative reviews said it was sweet... Well, look at the ingredients! And as far as salt goes, I use a low sodium tamari instead of regular soy sauce in all my recipes, and it is great.
We didn't use the fish sauce, jalapeno, or cilantro, and I substituted some dried chives for green onions since we aren't fans of uncooked onions anyway. I added a can of cubed pineapple to make it more similar to my favorite Chinese restaurant dish, and it was great.
Watch the video! It helped me make the dish perfectly. I didn't add the water, per other reviewer's suggestion and it turned out great. I think the water would have made it take forever to reduce.
Yum! I've given this recipe to a bunch of people since I first made it. Everyone in the family loved it! Thanks for another great recipe chef John!
Okay, so the title of this recipe threw me off a bit, but it was intriguing, so I decided to give it a try. I have cooked using small amounts of fish sauce before, and while the smell has always kind of nauseated me, I haven't really been able to taste it in the end result. This was not the case for this recipe. I found the fish sauce to be overwhelming and the sauce to be too sweet and too salty. I followed the directions as written and had even added the water. The chicken itself had great flavor, so it wasn't so bad with less sauce and more rice. We won't be trying this one again (and I will definitely be wary of any recipe that uses more than a small amount of fish sauce!)
Awesome even my fussy daughter love it. Replace rice vinegar with apple vinegar. Still tasted great!
