I finally made this recipe that I had cut out and stuck in my recipe book in a page pocket with the label ‘Recipes to Try’. When I want inspiration and looking for ideas, I revisit this page every so often and I finally decided to give this a whirl this past weekend. It is definitely a keeper.
We eat a lot of chicken so I’m always looking for a different spin on how to prepare it. This recipe takes some tending to, meaning you can’t leave it on the stovetop and walk away. It needs occasional basting and turning. That’s all. So it isn’t super easy but it definitely is not difficult either. And this is so worth it.
A long time ago I remember eating at The Cheesecake Factory and I had ordered the Caramel Chicken. OMG, this was even better, hands down. Even as my husband and I were eating this the other night, we were thinking of ways to use the leftovers. It would be amazing if you shred the leftovers with the sauce and make lettuce wraps topped with a carrot beet slaw (recipe to be posted soon).
whole chicken legs seasoned with salt and pepper 
prep all ingredients
Now that everything is ready to go, start browning the
chicken. Then set chicken aside and start sauteing the garlic,
ginger, shallots and all other prepped ingredients except
for the jalapenos.
Then add the chicken back to the pan. Now that basting
and turning begins for ~30-40 minutes until the chicken
temperature reads 165 deg.
Once the final caramelization has occurred, I removed the
chicken from the pan, then put the sauce in a separate dish,
returned the chicken to the pan so that I could pour the final
sauce all over the chicken. Then garnish with the
jalapeno and bring the whole pan right
to the table to serve.
As all this is going on, the prepped vegetables are being
sauted and the rice has been set aside and ready to fluff
right before serving.
veggies prepped 
after being sauted
- 4 whole chicken legs 2 1/2 pounds
- Kosher salt
- Pepper
- 4 Tbsp. neutral flavorless oil (grapeseed oil) divided (2T. / 2T.)
- 3 large shallots thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- One 2-inch piece of ginger peeled, minced
- 1/2 cup palm sugar or light brown sugar
- 3 Tbps. rice vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. fish sauce
- 1-2 jalapeño sliced and divided into 2 portions
- 1 cup water to add during cooking if needed
-
Season chicken with salt and pepper. In a deep 12-inch skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil. Add chicken to skillet, skin side down. Cook over moderately high heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn chicken and brown other side, about 4 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Pour the oil out of the skillet and discard.
-
Return skillet to moderate heat. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil, shallots, garlic, and ginger and 1/2 of prepared jalapenos; cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 2 minutes.
-
Add sugar, vinegar, fish sauce, and 1/2 cup water to skillet. Bring to a boil, and return chicken to skillet, skin side down. Simmer over moderate heat, occasionally basting the chicken, 8 minutes. Turn chicken and continue basting, adding water by tablespoonfuls if sauce thickens too rapidly, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of chicken registers 165° and sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes. Add jalapeño, and toss to coat in sauce. Transfer chicken to a platter, and drizzle sauce over the chicken.
- this recipe was adapted slightly from a recipe found in the January 2018 Food and Wine issue.
- if you can’t find whole chicken legs, you can easily substitute bone-in, skin-on thighs, bone-in chicken breasts, a whole chicken divided into 8 pieces
- serve with basmati or jasmine rice
- make lettuce wraps with leftovers by shredding the chicken with the sauce, serve in romaine or boston lettuce and top with any type of crunchy veggies, nuts, etc.
