THAI GARLIC CHICKEN

If you like Thai food, you must try this quick and easy Thai Garlic Chicken. You can have it on the table in 20 minutes. This Thai Garlic Chicken is salty, sweet with some crispy garlic. Serve it with quinoa or some rice with fried eggs. Mmmmm… it’s so comforting. It reminds me of my childhood memories, walking to the local hole in a wall restaurants to get lunch with my Thai peeps during those college days in Bangkok. I went to Thammasat University, located next to a river. There are hundreds of good local restaurants along both sides of the river. I didn’t realized how spoiled we were until I left Bangkok! It’s a true food paradise and I miss it very much. One of our all time favorite place is called “Khun Ek” or “Mr. Ek” in English. They have the best garlic chicken and I always ordered it with a fried sunny side up egg and steamed rice. It’s so simple and yet so good.  I tried and tried to mimic his recipe. I think I get it pretty close and I’d love to show you how I made it.

By the way, if you like Thai food. I have a few recipes that I posted on letscooksomefood.com.  Here are the links: Green Curry Chicken with Hearts of Palm, Thai Mushroom Omelete, Thai Red Pepper Omelet, Pad Thai, Basil Beef with Fried Eggs, Red Curry Chicken with Bamboo Shoots, Cucumber Stuffed with Ground Pork Soup, Thai Grilled Pork Salad, Grilled Asian Chicken Wings, Fried Chicken Wings in Sticky Honey Soy Garlic, Thai Beef Bowl, Tilapia in Parchment, Thai Chicken Coconut Soup (Tom Kha Gai), The King’s Sun Egg, Thai Seafood Soup (Tom Yum Talay), Thai Seafood Quinoa, Stir-Fried Asparagus, Stir-Fried Baby Bok Choy with Garlic and Chili, Stir-Fried Baby Bok Choy with Bacon,  Asian Pork Burger with Sriracha Mayo, Drunken Spaghetti with Shrimp, and Yum Goon Chiang (Thai Sausage Salad).

Back to Thai Garlic Chicken. The no longer ‘secret ingredient’ is the concoction of the sauce. It consists of sugar, fish sauce, sweet soy sauce, Golden Mountain Seasoning Sauce and Oyster Sauce. You can find all them from your local Asian store. When these 5 musketeers get together, it creates a unique salty, sweet and a little bit sticky yummy sauce.

I know it’s quite a lot but like a good BBQ sauce, it usually has a million things in it!

Now since the secret is out, let’s cook some food!

Chop garlic by hands or use the food processor if you’re in a hurry like me. I was uber hungry and I didn’t want to be hangry (angry + hungry).

Add some pepper, black or white, whatever you have in your pantry. Pulse a few times to combine.

Mix all the sauces and sugar in a bowl.

Add garlic mixture into the bowl. Mix everything together.

Add the chicken into the sauce. It would be awesome with pork or beef, too. If you have time, let it sit for 10-15 minutes or even overnight. If you don’t, no biggy. It will turn out just fine.

Heat up vegetable or Canola oil in a pan, medium heat. I’m using my handy dandy cast iron skillet today. It holds the heat very well and I need a really hot pan for my  Thai Garlic Chicken today.

Once the pan is hot, add chicken and all the sauce into the pan. Stir occasionally until the chicken is cooked. Add a tablespoon of water to thin it out and stir. Turn off the heat. That’s it!

I like to sprinkle chopped cilantro on top and serve it with a fried egg and steamed rice or quinoa. It’s really good, guys. It really is.

I hope you give this Thai Garlic Chicken a try. The recipe card is below. Enjoy!