Cooking for One
Caramelized Black Pepper Chicken From Charles Phan
Popular on Food52
24 Reviews
olivieri
July 22, 2020
Ive made this twice. Once with chicken thighs and once with pork tenderloin. Equally delicious. I added extra veggies to it and it turns out fantastic. Peppers and carrots.
MikeB
July 8, 2020
This is absolutely delicious. I mixed in some green beans for a little crunch (and some green is always nice). Only issue is chicken can overcook. I pulled it out after about five minutes, reduced the sauce to almost a glace and tossed the chicken back in to coat and heat through. I also didn’t reserve half the sauce but rather used it all.
Seriously delicious. This will definitely go in my repertoire.
Seriously delicious. This will definitely go in my repertoire.
kmb
July 6, 2020
This is very good. My pandemic pantry yielded only two tablespoons of fish sauce, so I subbed in a tablespoon of soy sauce to make up the difference. I also added a squeeze of lime and twice the cilantro on top per the suggestions other reviewer.
Ellie L.
May 6, 2020
This looks so yummy! I need substitutions, please:) For the sweetener would fresh orange juice work? White wine vinegar for the rice vinegar?
The P.
April 8, 2020
At Casa Pontificator we just had this for lunch with a side of stir-fried Bok Choy and Cara Cara orange slices for dessert.
This recipe is outstanding and I made if full strength with a few extra chiles (all I have are some dried De Arbol) and lot of cilantro which add that bright top note.
My only "con" is that it is extremely salty. Whoa. Next time I might have to back off the fish sauce and/or water it down and/or consider finding that fish sauce with reduced sodium (Tiparos or whatever they call it now to skirt import restrictions).
But yeah, it's a keeper.
This recipe is outstanding and I made if full strength with a few extra chiles (all I have are some dried De Arbol) and lot of cilantro which add that bright top note.
My only "con" is that it is extremely salty. Whoa. Next time I might have to back off the fish sauce and/or water it down and/or consider finding that fish sauce with reduced sodium (Tiparos or whatever they call it now to skirt import restrictions).
But yeah, it's a keeper.
trish
March 31, 2020
Wow, I just tried this recipe last night and it is a real winner!! I followed the recipe almost exactly, I grated the ginger instead of julienne. Next time, I would cut out some of the brown sugar, use less fish sauce and take the seeds out of the chiles! I love the aromatics of this dish and it reminded me of a Thai dish I make with pork instead of chicken. It was a little spicy from the halved chili, I love the heat but it was a little too much for my tongue! This will be added to our favourite recipe book! Thank you for another great recipe!
Judy N.
March 26, 2020
This recipe was a hit with the family. I made one chicken and one tofu version and both were popular!
Shortrib
March 26, 2020
Pretty good, but I prefer the caramel sauce used in the recipe for roast salmon with cheat's caramel sauce also on this site. It uses soy sauce and lime juice which add punch, and much less fish sauce. We enjoyed this, but it's not as interesting. Thanks!
Greg C.
March 24, 2020
What a wonderful combo of flavors. We loved how the cracked pepper added pop and set off the sweetness from the sauce. And then the ginger. Really, really good. And so easy. Don't tell Charles, but we used cauliflower rice. :-) Putting this in the favorite collection!
mrstock
March 23, 2020
Fish sauce stinks. Remember that one before you start! Having said that your home will smell
No worse than the local Thai or Viet takeaway!
No worse than the local Thai or Viet takeaway!
james
March 23, 2020
excellent.....fast and yummy...and versatile.....add steamed vegetables like snow peas and string beans and julienne carrots.....they caramelize quickly.....or serve them above jasmine rice with cocoanut....
Judy
March 21, 2020
Made this tonight- exactly as written. Next time, I would use only one thai chili, and would toss in steamed broccoli. This is a great pantry dinner for us. Thanks!
NickD
March 19, 2020
Made this recipe tonight. I only added 1/2 the fish sauce per the recipe and it came out great. Only used one Thai pepper because my wife doesn’t like really spicy and it was perfect for us. We’re on a low carb diet so we ladled the dish over roasted cauliflower and broccoli.
I can see replacing the chicken with shrimp or pork and getting an equally tasty dish.
Thanks for the recipe.
I can see replacing the chicken with shrimp or pork and getting an equally tasty dish.
Thanks for the recipe.
Sayo
March 19, 2020
I made this today. Added some veggies too. Came out soo delicious! Thanks so much.
Kim M.
March 18, 2020
This recipe is delicious! I made it for dinner and my husband and I could not saying “oh my gosh this is so food!” This is a new favorite in our house that I will make very often. Thanks for the recipe!
Beverly C.
March 18, 2020
I made this just the other night, but my recipe never had about only adding half the sauce at first (older version from Food and Wine, but from Chef Phan). That probably would have really helped because mine never really caramelized. It was way too soupy, but with very good flavor. I might even add a touch of cornstarch to the liquid before cooking it to thicken it a bit. Tried that on some leftovers I had of the chicken and it helped, but not enough to really give it that caramelized coating that I was looking for. But it was super simple, and yes, the fish sauce does stink up the kitchen a bit, but there is no good substitution for it.
Kristen M.
March 18, 2020
Yes, Charles showed us this variation when he came in for our video shoot and we loved how flexible it turned out to be (though I thought the original Food & Wine recipe was delicious, too).
Daryna T.
March 20, 2020
I found this recipe in F&W back in the day and I've been making it for a long time. For me the key to getting the sauce to caramelize is cranking up the heat. YMMV depending on your BTUs but for some stoves medium-high may not be hot enough...
PS, I had to laugh at the direction "taste and decide if you'd like more sauce" because I'd take a bath in this sauce. Don't skimp on the sauce, people! :) Enjoy and be well.
(And I don't get
PS, I had to laugh at the direction "taste and decide if you'd like more sauce" because I'd take a bath in this sauce. Don't skimp on the sauce, people! :) Enjoy and be well.
(And I don't get
See what other Food52ers are saying.