As you probably are already aware, I have a few different ethnic cuisines that are my all-time favorites. Mexican, Thai, Indian, and well pretty much anything Asian. That includes Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, and Filipino. With hope, I pray that my kids who I cook for everyday grown up to realize that when they grow older. I’m not that guy who is serving up the same jive every week, rather I’m the dude who is serving them dishes, family style, from all over the world. I typically always do a take on this particular recipe as my entire family totally loves it, however it goes so fast that you wish you would have quadrupled the recipe or simply told the kids to slow down a bit. It’s that good. It’s Vietnamese caramel chicken, but instead of serving with a side of rice and some thinly sliced cucumbers, I made this into a po boy. I mean it’s the best of both worlds, right?
Let’s get started.
Ingredients for the chicken and marinade:
- 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp canola oil
Ingredients for the sauce:
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
- pinch of salt, to taste
- 1/4 cup of water
Ingredients for the sandwich:
- Your favorite baguette
- mayonnaise, optional
- cherry or roma tomatoes, optional
- head lettuce, thinly chopped
- fresh cilantro, chopped, optional
- 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced, optional
Sounds like a lot, but it’s really not as the ingredients for the marinade and sauce are essentially the same.
Start by combining all of your chicken and marinade ingredients into a mixing bowl or sealable plastic bag, and let this marinade for a at least a couple of hours in the refrigerator. Take the chicken out and have it come close to room temperature before you are ready to cook.
During this time, mix the sauce ingredients, and if you want, go ahead and prepare your sandwich ingredients. NOTE: The chicken cooks quickly, very quickly.
Get a large skillet out and heat it to medium-high heat. Let it heat up for a minute or two then add in the chicken. Don’t mess with the chicken. Let it do its thing for a couple of minutes, then start stirring it around. Cook the chicken for about 7 minutes, then turn on your kitchen vent and add in the sauce. Stir, coating the chicken and cook quickly. The sauce will thicken and get nice and sticky. Once that happens, remove the skillet from the heat.
Whatever you do, don’t start eating the chicken yet. It’s so darn addictive that you may end up not having enough to make a sandwich!
Now it’s time to make the sandwich. Lather both sides of your sandwich with mayonnaise. to the bottom, add the shredded lettuce and tomatoes. Top with a bunch of the caramelized chicken, then top with cilantro and jalapenos. Almost a banh mi style without the pickled elements. Fold, push down on the sandwich, and open wide.
This sandwich is awesome. Sticky chicken packed with great Asian flavors really knocks this one out of the park. Hope you enjoy!