Braised Chicken in Lemongrass and Ginger Caramel Sauce

Adapted from "Lemongrass, Ginger and Mint   Vietnamese Cookbook; Classic Vietnamese Restaurant Favorites at Home" by Linh Nguyen; 2017

This sauce is amazingly delicious!  There are similar recipes for salmon and tofu dishes - see pages 169-172.

Traditionally, bone-in and skin-on chicken pieces whacked into small pieces with a cleaver are used, but any boneless sliced chicken is fine.  I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts, but didn't notice that they were to be cut into 1/2" pieces, so I only cut them into thirds.  Smaller pieces would cook more easily and be served more easily on pasta or rice.

The second time I made it, I did use small pieces.  They cooked easily but were a little dry.  Served with plain couscous and it was great at soaking up the sauce.  Also mixed peppers and red onion stir fry with some cilantro.

Lemongrass is tough and should be bruised (pounded with a meat hammer, e.g.) to release the oils.  It has a great aroma and is often used in Vietnamese spas or as a digestion aid.

Ingredients:
2 pounds chicken parts cut into 1/2" pieces
5 lemongrass stalks (about 3" of the roots only), finely chopped, divided
2" piece of ginger, peeled and minced, divided
1 tsp minced hot chile (optional - I forgot to add this)
3 Tbsp vegetarian fish sauce
Freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp room-temperature water
1/4 cup boiling water
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Steamed rice or pasta for serving

Directions:
1) Toss the chicken with half of the lemongrass and half of the ginger; hot chile if using, fish sauce and season with pepper.  Set aside to marinate for 15 minutes

2) In a saucepan combine the sugar and room-temperature water without stirring.  Cook over medium-high heat until the sugar starts to turn honey-colored.  (This never happened).  Swirl the pan to distribute the heat and the sugar evenly.  When the sugar is consistently honey colored, reduce the heat to low.

3) Very carefully, ladle the boiling water over the caramelized sugar.  Stir constantly until the crystallized caramelized sugar is fully dissolved in the water, then turn off the heat.  Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

4) Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the remaining lemongrass and ginger and sauté until fragrant, about one minute.  Add the chicken and sauté for 1 minute.  Reduce the heat to medium-low.  Ad the caramel sauce and stir to mix, then cover and cook for 15 minutes.

5) Serve with steamed rice (or summer squash pasta).

According to the book, if you don't have lemongrass available, just double the ginger.