Growing up in Vietnam, we didn’t eat much chicken because it was more expensive compared to beef or pork. We also didn’t grocery shop for a week or month worth of food. We grocery shop everyday. So when I moved here, I was pleasantly surprised to find that chicken is more affordable and I don’t have to grocery shop everyday. I can buy in bulk when things are on sale and freeze the meat. The idea of buying in bulk and freezing help alleviate some of the stress of dinner prepping. That is if I remember to defrost the meat the night before. On occasions when I forget to defrost the meat, I pull out my Ninja Foodi 10-in-1 pressure cooker to save the day 😂. Using the pressure cooker and air crisp functions, I made caramelized chicken in 45 minutes.
What is caramelized chicken?
Caramelized chicken is a dish that is perfect for when you want something sweet yet savory. It’s chicken that has been fried, using the air fryer, and drenched in a sweet, garlicky, gingery sauce.
How to make caramelized chicken?
Even when you’re racing against time to put dinner on the table, you can spare 15 minutes to marinade the chicken. Trust me, it will taste better this way. While the chicken marinate, I focus my attention to making the sauce to be efficient with my time.
After the 15 minutes, I place the chicken drumsticks on the air crisp rack along with some water. Use the pressure cooker lid to close and turned on the pressure cooker for 6 minutes on “Hi”. This cooks the chicken drumsticks. After it cooks then I fry it at 390oF for 30 minutes using the air crisp mode. At the half-way mark, I opened the lid and turned the drumsticks over. This makes sure that it evenly fries on all sides.
Caramel sauce
For the sauce, I combined brown sugar, fish sauce, apple cider vinegar, garlic, ginger, water, and honey in a saucepan. Whisk to combine the ingredients while bringing it to a boil. After it boils, I mix in a separate bowl some cornstarch and water to create a slurry. I then added this cornstarch slurry to the saucepan. The cornstarch slurry will help thicken the sauce.
Serving caramelized chicken
I like to serve caramelized chicken with Jasmine rice. Because not everyone is big on putting sauce on things, I like to serve the sauce on the side. This way, people can taste the sauce first and decide for themselves how much to put on.
For those who are carb conscious, serve this as a wrap using butter lettuce.
Storing leftovers
Since this dish has a sauce component, I like to store the sauce and chicken separately in an airtight container in the fridge.
Cleaning up the air fryer
Now that dinner is done, you’re left with all the dishes and worst of all, the air fryer pot and rack that has food caked on. What I’ve found to work best for my Ninja Foodi 10-in-1 is to add a drop of dish soap along with water to the pot. Enough water to submerge the air fryer rack. Then turn it on air crisp mode for 5 minutes. This helps loosens all the food particles and makes it easier to wipe the pot and rack clean. Since I’ve only used this method with the Ninja Foodi 10-in-1, I cannot speak for how it works with other air fryers, so please consult your user manual first.
Caramelized Chicken (Gà Kho)
Equipment
- 1 Ninja Foodi 10-in-1 instant pot
Ingredients
Ingredients for the chicken marinade:
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp grown sugar
- 2 pounds chicken thighs
Ingredients for the caramel sauce:
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
- 4 cloves chopped garlic
- 3 tbsp dried ginger or freshly grated ginger
- ⅓ cup hot water
- ¼ cup honey
Ingredients to thicken the caramel sauce:
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp water
Instructions
Instructions to cook the chicken thighs:
- Sprinkle some salt on the chicken drumsticks then rinse the salt off using warm water. Pat the chicken drumsticks dry using paper towel.
- Add the fish sauce and brown sugar in a bowl to make a marinade.
- Pour the marinade over the chicken drumsticks and let it marinade for 15 minutes.
- When the 15 minutes is up, place the air crisp rack in the Ninja Foodi 10-in-1 pressure cooker and add ½ cup of water to the bottom of the air crisp rack.
- Then place the chicken drumsticks on the air crisp rack in the Ninja Foodi 10-in-1 pressure cooker.
- Using the pressure cooker lid to close the pot. Set it to "pressure cook" on "Hi" for 6 minutes.
- After the 6 minutes, carefully vent then open the lid. Replace the pressure cooker lid with the air frying lid and set the Ninja Foodi 10-in-1 pot to "air crisp" at 390F for 25 minutes. Half way through the cooking time, carefully open the lid and turn the drumsticks over. This will help them brown evenly.
Instructions to make the caramel sauce:
- Add all the ingredients to make the sauce in a saucepan and turn the heat to medium while whisking the ingredients together. Let it come to a gentle boil.
- In a separate bowl, add the water and cornstarch to make a slurry.
- Add the water and cornstarch slurry to the saucepan and turn off the heat.
- When the caramel sauce thickens, drizzle a generous amount over the chicken drumsticks and serve.
The next time you’re wondering what to make for dinner but don’t have much time, pull out your air fryer and give this recipe a try. Definitely one of my husband’s favorite. He’s asked to make it again but with chicken wings. For more quick chicken recipes, try my coconut ginger chicken in the crockpot. Or if you’re looking for something on the grill, try my marinated grilled chicken recipe.
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