It was a quiet long Memorial Day weekend … and I savored every moment of it. Aside from heading to the City to browse the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market Saturday morning, Teddy B and I hung out at home. As has become routine, we ate meals together, took walks together and sometimes even napped together.
While Teddy chowed down on beef and pea kibble (and an occasional puppy treat), I enjoyed an assortment of sweets from Bonjour Bakehouse and homemade fare – namely, caramel chicken and mushrooms with “10-10-10 perfect” rice. Both recipes come from Andrea Nguyen’s new cookbook, Ever-Green Vietnamese, and deliver on their promise.
Caramel chicken and mushrooms requires few ingredients and very little time but is big on flavor. And Andrea’s method for cooking white jasmine rice (on Pages 65-66) is foolproof – and fast. Although the pairing is delicious as is, you can serve it with a smashed cucumber salad to add brightness and crunch. I highly recommend all three.
Recipe adapted from Ever-Green Vietnamese.
- ¾ pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
- 2" piece fresh ginger, peeled, thinly sliced and smashed
- 3 tablespoons caramel sauce (see notes)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- ¼ cup finely diced yellow onion
- ¾ pound king trumpet mushrooms, halved lengthwise and then cut diagonally into 1½" pieces
- ½ cup water
- 3 green onions, cut into 1½" pieces
- cooked jasmine rice, for serving
- In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, ginger, caramel sauce, fish sauce and salt. Set aside.
- In a large pot, heat canola oil over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for another 2 minutes.
- Add marinated chicken and water to pot and stir to combine. Cover and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes. Uncover and continue simmering until the liquid reduces, about 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat, cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in the green onions. Serve with jasmine rice.
