Ga kho gung is a popular and traditional Vietnamese caramelized ginger chicken dish. The chicken is braised in a flavorful caramel sauce with sweet coconut juice, fish sauce and fragrant aromatics. This is an easy and classic home style dish that’s delicious and comforting.
Ga kho was one of my favorite Vietnamese meals growing up. It’s cooked very similarly to suon ram which is caramelized pork spare ribs. I cook this dish often for the kids because they love the tender chicken with sweet and salty sauce served over a bowl of white fluffy rice. It’s one of the most requested chicken dish in our house!
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Ingredients
Chicken – This dish is usually cooked with bone-in, skin on chicken that’s chopped into smaller pieces. The bone adds a richer flavor to the caramel sauce. However, I use boneless chicken thigh meat for my version – it’s quick and easy, and I don’t have to worry about my kids biting into shards of bone.
Fish sauce – It’s not a Vietnamese dish unless there’s fish sauce! Get this at your local Asian grocery store. Some mainstream American stores have them as well. Popular fish sauce brands are Red Boat or Three Crabs. There is no substitute for fish sauce in this dish.
Aromatics – Ginger, shallot and garlic. Ginger is the main aromatic that gives the dish its name. Its fragrant and slightly sweet flavor brings the chicken to another level.
Coco Rico – This is coconut soda, used in a lot of braised Vietnamese dishes. You can get it at most Asian or Hispanic markets. Coconut water is a good substitute if you cannot find coconut soda.
Sugar – The sugar is caramelized to give the chicken an appetizing, golden color, while also adding sweetness to the dish. Both cane sugar or coconut sugar work well.
Instructions
1). Prep the ingredients for the ga kho dish and add the aromatics and fish sauce to the chicken.
2). Caramelize the sugar, this can be tricky if it’s your first time. Keep a close eye and use a spoon or chopsticks to constantly stir the sugar while it melts.
3). The caramelized sugar should brown to a deep, golden caramel color – then take it off the heat right away.
4). Immediately add the chicken to the pan to coat it with the caramel sauce. Bring it back to the stove on high heat. Once evenly coated, add the Coco Rico soda. Braise the chicken for 20 minutes, covered with a lid. Remove the lid and bring the heat to medium to reduce the sauce, about 5 minutes.
Garnish with additional fresh ginger as needed and serve over white rice.
Pro Tips
- Caramelizing sugar takes practice, it’s very easy to burn. Make sure to take it off the heat once it reaches a dark golden color.
- Clumps of the caramel may form, this happens when it cools down too quickly when the chicken is added, but it will melt once the coconut soda is added.
- This dish is served with rice. It’s salty and sweet, and will need rice to soak up the delicious sauce. Add a side of cucumber for a refreshing crunch.
- If using chicken breast meat, braise the chicken for about 15 minutes so the chicken doesn’t dry out.
- If you have the time, marinate the chicken with the ginger, garlic, shallot and fish sauce for 30 minutes. This will give the dish a deeper flavor.
- Taste the dish once it’s done, if you like a sweeter taste, add more sugar or for more saltiness, add fish sauce.
More Vietnamese recipes to try
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Ga Kho Gung (Vietnamese Caramelized Ginger Chicken)
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces I use boneless and skinless
- 2.5 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 cup Coco Rico – coconut soda or coconut water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ½ medium shallot, diced
- 1 inch piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced optional, add extra for garnish
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tablespoon oil
- green onion, sliced optional garnish
Instructions
- In a bowl, add fish sauce, shallot, garlic and ginger to the chicken and mix well. Set aside.
- In a medium saute pan, add the oil then sugar. Melt the sugar on medium low heat, using a wooden spoon or chopsticks to stir continuously. Caramelize the sugar until the color is a dark rich brown. Take it off the heat.
- Add the chicken to the pan, turn the heat to high and quickly coat the chicken with the caramelized sugar evenly.
- Once the caramel is evenly distributed onto the chicken, add the coconut soda and bring it to a boil, take down the heat to medium low on simmer. Cover with a lid.
- Simmer for 20 minutes, then take the lid off and bring up heat to medium for 5-8 minutes, until the liquid reduces and thickens a bit.
- Garnish with green onions and additional sliced ginger to taste.
- Serve the chicken over a bed of rice with some sliced cucumber.
Notes
- Caramelizing sugar takes practice, it’s very easy to burn. Make sure to take it off the heat once it reaches a dark golden color.
- Clumps of the caramel may form when the chicken is added, this happens when it cools down too quickly, but it will melt once the coconut soda is added.
- If using chicken breast meat, braising should be about t 15 minutes so the chicken doesn’t dry out.
- This dish is served with rice. It’s salty and sweet, and will need rice to soak up the delicious sauce. Add a side of cucumber for a refreshing crunch.
- Taste the dish once it’s done, if you like a sweeter taste, add more sugar or for more saltiness, add fish sauce.
- If you have the time, marinate the chicken with the ginger, garlic, shallot and fish sauce for 30 minutes. This will give the dish a deeper flavor.