Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken Recipe
This Coconut Caramel Chicken is a magical, EASY Vietnamese chicken recipe!! The chicken model of Vietnamese Caramel Pork, it’s sluggish cooked in coconut milk with Vietnamese flavourings till it reduces right down to a sweet-savoury glaze and the flesh is tender.
Go all out with a Vietnamese menu and serve this alongside contemporary Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls, Bun Cha Vietnamese meatballs and a contemporary Asian Slaw on the aspect!
An unbelievable Vietnamese chicken recipe
There are not any phrases to explain how good this Vietnamese chicken is.
And the way it seems like one million bucks when it’s completed however utterly unimpressive whereas it’s cooking. You’ll most likely be doubting me the entire time proper up till the final 5 minutes when it transforms from milky bleakness into golden gloriousness!
Right here by well-liked demand!
That is the chicken model of the wildly, unexpectedly well-liked Vietnamese Caramel Pork that I shared a couple of weeks in the past. It actually caught me off guard how a lot you liked that one – and it makes me so glad! That form of recipe is totally and totally me. Somewhat totally different from the standard, massive kapow! flavours, a bit unique, and but one thing that anybody could make with out having to seek out laborious to search out elements.
On the time I shared it, I used to be flopping forwards and backwards making an attempt to determine whether or not to share the legit Vietnamese pork model or this chicken model which is tailored from the pork.
And, unsurprisingly, fairly a couple of folks requested learn how to make the Vietnamese Caramel Pork with chicken. It’s not so simple as simply switching the pork with chicken. So right here it’s – the chicken model. 🙂
The Vietnamese Caramel Pork is made with coconut water which really doesn’t style of coconut. It’s sort of salty and a bit candy – not that nice to drink plain. However it works nice as a broth to sluggish cook dinner items of pork.
Nonetheless, I discovered that with chicken, it lacked flavour (pork meat has a stronger flavour than chicken). So I used coconut milk as an alternative and tweaked a couple of issues – coconut milk is manner sweeter than coconut water, so I minimize down barely on the sugar and added vinegar to steadiness out the sweetness. Plus lowered the cook dinner time – the pork takes 90 minutes which is simply too lengthy for chicken.
Finest minimize of chicken for this recipe
I discover it’s best to make this Vietnamese chicken recipe with bone in, pores and skin on thigh fillets, not solely since you get the beautiful bronzing of the pores and skin but additionally as a result of it received’t collapse within the time it takes to scale back the broth right down to a sticky sauce.
Nonetheless, I additionally actually like this made with skinless boneless thigh fillets so I’ve obtained instructions for this within the recipe too (it does contain taking them out earlier, in any other case they collapse and it will get troublesome to deal with within the sticky sauce).
The way to serve Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken
As a result of the glaze has fairly a robust flavour, that is finest served with plain white rice – jasmine rice is my favorite.
And for a contemporary aspect, a crunchy Asian Slaw can be very becoming – it’s a terrific contemporary salad with stunning brilliant flavours. Or toss steamed greens or a backyard salad with this Asian Sesame Dressing or the Nuoc Cham on this Lemongrass chicken recipe.
And lastly:
I, Johnsat of RecipeTin Eats, do hereby solemnly declare that this would be the final variation of a not too long ago revealed recipe for the rest of 2017.
I’m very conscious that I’ve performed a handful of variations of late, pursuant to reader requests. 🙂 Just like the Mushroom Rice (range model) which was adopted by a Baked Mushroom Rice. Parmesan Crusted Potatoes had been adopted by the low carb model of Parmesan Crusted Cauliflower.
Now Vietnamese Caramel Pork adopted by this Vietnamese Coconut Caramel Chicken.
That’s it! No extra!!!! (For 2017 😉 ) – Johnsat x
Get your Vietnamese repair!
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Bun Cha – Vietnamese Meatballs (Noodle Bowl)
-
Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls
-
Lemongrass Chicken – considered one of my favorite issues to grill!
-
Vietnamese Noodle Salad
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Vietnamese Caramel Pork Bowls – tremendous fast!
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Browse all Vietnamese recipes
Ingredients
- 4 large / 5 small chicken thighs , bone in skin on (Note 1)
- 1/2 cup / 80 g brown sugar , loosely packed
- 1 tbsp water
- 400 g / 14 oz coconut milk , low fat (1 can) (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce (Note 3)
- 2 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar (or cider vinegar)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 eschallot / French onion , finely sliced (Note 4)
- 1/4 tsp white pepper (or black)
- 1 shallot , finely sliced (green onion / scallion)
- 1 large red chilli , finely sliced
Instructions
- Place sugar and water in a skillet over medium heat. Stir, then when it bubbles and the sugar is melted (it looks like caramel), add the rest of the ingredients except chicken.
- Stir, then put the chicken in SKIN SIDE DOWN.
- Adjust the heat so it is simmering energetically. Not rapidly, not a slow simmer (I use medium high heat on a weak stove, medium on a strong stove).
- After 25 minutes, turn the chicken.
- After another 25 minutes, the fat should separate from the sauce and turn a pale brown (see video).
- Turn chicken so the skin side is down. Move it around so the sauce doesn’t catch on the bottom of the skillet and to brown the skin.
- Once sauce and skin is brown, remove from heat.
- Place chicken on serving plates, spoon over some sauce (don’t need much, chicken is infused with flavour + sauce is strong).
- Garnish with shallots and chilli, if using. Serve with rice.
Notes
1. I used 4 x 250g / 8 oz ones in the video which are larger than I like. I prefer using 5 x 200g / 6.5 oz thighs. Bone in, skin on is best because the skin goes golden and also is cooked to be tender by the time the liquid reduces down.
To make this with SKINLESS, BONELESS THIGHS, cut the thighs in half then proceed with recipe. Take the chicken out at 35 / 40 minutes when it is tender but before it is fall apart. Once the fat separates from the sauce (see video) and is starting to brown, put the chicken back in to brown it and coat in sauce. You won’t get quite the same browning on the chicken as with skin on thighs.
BREAST: I don’t recommend breast because it can’t be cooked for long to infuse it with flavour like thigh. However, if you are really keen to try this with breast (and you will get the beautiful sauce on both sides of the breast) this is how I would do it: pound breast to 2cm / 4/5″ thick, then cook each side just for 4 minutes each in the braising liquid. Then remove, reduce liquid until the fat separates (at the end in the video) then put it back in just to brown each side.
2. Full fat is also fine. Can’t taste the difference in flavour, just don’t need the extra fat.
3. Fish sauce has more complex flavours than soy sauce, and it won’t taste fishy by the end of the cook time. For LOW SODIUM, sub with low sodium soy.
4. Eschallots look like baby onions and they are finer so they disintegrate in the sauce. You can sub with 1/4 normal onion finely chopped.
5. AUTHENTICITY: This is recipe is adapted from Vietnamese Caramel Pork which is an authentic Vietnamese recipe. So it’s not strictly authentic – as far as I know. 🙂
6. Nutrition per serving, assuming this is made with 5 x 200g / 6.5 oz bone in thighs. The calories will be quite a bit higher than the actual because as you will see in the video, the fat separates and you avoid it when spooning the sauce over the chicken. You can even drain it off.
Did You Make This Recipe?
How you went with my recipes? Tag me on Instagram at @PenciDesign.
Ingredients
- 4 large / 5 small chicken thighs , bone in skin on (Note 1)
- 1/2 cup / 80 g brown sugar , loosely packed
- 1 tbsp water
- 400 g / 14 oz coconut milk , low fat (1 can) (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce (Note 3)
- 2 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar (or cider vinegar)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 eschallot / French onion , finely sliced (Note 4)
- 1/4 tsp white pepper (or black)
- 1 shallot , finely sliced (green onion / scallion)
- 1 large red chilli , finely sliced
Instructions
- Place sugar and water in a skillet over medium heat. Stir, then when it bubbles and the sugar is melted (it looks like caramel), add the rest of the ingredients except chicken.
- Stir, then put the chicken in SKIN SIDE DOWN.
- Adjust the heat so it is simmering energetically. Not rapidly, not a slow simmer (I use medium high heat on a weak stove, medium on a strong stove).
- After 25 minutes, turn the chicken.
- After another 25 minutes, the fat should separate from the sauce and turn a pale brown (see video).
- Turn chicken so the skin side is down. Move it around so the sauce doesn’t catch on the bottom of the skillet and to brown the skin.
- Once sauce and skin is brown, remove from heat.
- Place chicken on serving plates, spoon over some sauce (don’t need much, chicken is infused with flavour + sauce is strong).
- Garnish with shallots and chilli, if using. Serve with rice.
Notes
1. I used 4 x 250g / 8 oz ones in the video which are larger than I like. I prefer using 5 x 200g / 6.5 oz thighs. Bone in, skin on is best because the skin goes golden and also is cooked to be tender by the time the liquid reduces down.
To make this with SKINLESS, BONELESS THIGHS, cut the thighs in half then proceed with recipe. Take the chicken out at 35 / 40 minutes when it is tender but before it is fall apart. Once the fat separates from the sauce (see video) and is starting to brown, put the chicken back in to brown it and coat in sauce. You won’t get quite the same browning on the chicken as with skin on thighs.
BREAST: I don’t recommend breast because it can’t be cooked for long to infuse it with flavour like thigh. However, if you are really keen to try this with breast (and you will get the beautiful sauce on both sides of the breast) this is how I would do it: pound breast to 2cm / 4/5″ thick, then cook each side just for 4 minutes each in the braising liquid. Then remove, reduce liquid until the fat separates (at the end in the video) then put it back in just to brown each side.
2. Full fat is also fine. Can’t taste the difference in flavour, just don’t need the extra fat.
3. Fish sauce has more complex flavours than soy sauce, and it won’t taste fishy by the end of the cook time. For LOW SODIUM, sub with low sodium soy.
4. Eschallots look like baby onions and they are finer so they disintegrate in the sauce. You can sub with 1/4 normal onion finely chopped.
5. AUTHENTICITY: This is recipe is adapted from Vietnamese Caramel Pork which is an authentic Vietnamese recipe. So it’s not strictly authentic – as far as I know. 🙂
6. Nutrition per serving, assuming this is made with 5 x 200g / 6.5 oz bone in thighs. The calories will be quite a bit higher than the actual because as you will see in the video, the fat separates and you avoid it when spooning the sauce over the chicken. You can even drain it off.
Did You Make This Recipe?
How you went with my recipes? Tag me on Instagram at @PenciDesign.
