Description
These chicken skewers are grilled chicken kebabs marinated with sambal oelek, brown sugar, fish sauce, and garlic, giving the chicken a tasty sweet-spicy-salty-smokey flavor.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
- 1–2 tablespoons hot chili-garlic sauce (such as sambal oelek)
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons finely minced garlic
- 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1 1/2-inch to 2-inch pieces
- Fresh cilantro leaves, chopped, for serving
Instructions
- Make marinade. Whisk brown sugar, rice vinegar, chili-garlic paste, fish sauce, and garlic together in a small saucepan. Measure out 4 tablespoons of sauce into a resealable plastic bag.
- Marinate chicken. Add chicken pieces to bag, seal bag, and marinate chicken in refrigerator for 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.
- Cook glaze. Bring remaining sauce in saucepan to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until reduced and sauce is the consistency of thick syrup, 5-10 minutes.
- Prep chicken. Prepare grill for medium-high heat. Thread 4 or 5 chicken pieces onto skewers. Discard any leftover marinade.
- Cook chicken. Grill chicken until just cooked through, about 4-5 minutes per side. Brush reduced glaze onto top sides of chicken skewers then cook 1-2 minutes more. Transfer chicken skewers to serving dish, sprinkle with cilantro and serve.
Notes
- If using wooden bamboo skewers, soak them in water for 1-2 hours. It is surprising what a difference it makes.
- I like to make a little extra sauce to drizzle over steamed rice and broccoli to go with the chicken.
- Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit, July 2013.
