Grilled Chicken with Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce

I was reminded of how much I love hot and sweet together after making strawberry jalepeno jam last week with a friend.  And then I remembered this recipe.  It may look a little daunting at first glance, or at least it did to me the first time I made it, but don’t let the need to make both a marinade and a sauce deter you. They’re not that hard to make and don’t have that many ingredients. The dipping sauce is just like it says, hot and sweet. Oh so good too. The marinade with fish sauce really makes for tasty chicken. The combination of the two results in one of the best things I’ve ever made on the grill. This is not due to my mad grilling skills, because grilling is not my forte’. It is based on a recipe from the cookbook “Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through Southeast Asia.” It is one of my favorite cookbooks not so much because I have made that many recipes from it, but because it has great travel and recipe stories plus photos that make it part travelogue along with cookbook.


Vietnamese Grilled Chicken with Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
Dipping Sauce:
½ c rice wine or cider vinegar
½ c sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
¼ t salt
1 ½ t red pepper flakes

Marinade:
1 t black peppercorns
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 ½ T cilantro aka coriander stems (the recipe calls for roots but I have not been able to find them so I just use the stems of cilantro)
Pinch of salt
2 (generous) T fish sauce (this is available at large grocery stores these days, including Cub Foods. I used to have to go to the Asian market to get it.)

1 package chicken boneless chicken breast, cut into approx 2"chunks
OR chicken pieces on the bone will work too, that's what the original calls for

Directions
Dipping Sauce: Place the vinegar in a small non-reactive saucepan and heat to a boil. Add the sugar, stirring until it has completely dissolved, then lower the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, using the side of a large knife, smash the garlic and salt to a smooth paste (could also use a mortar and pestle or a bowl and the back of a spoon). Combine with the pepper flakes in a bowl and blend well. Remove the vinegar mixture from the heat and stir in the garlic paste. Let cool to room temperature. Store sealed in a glass jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

Marinade: Place the peppercorns in a mortar with the garlic and pound to a paste. Add the cilantro stems and salt and pound to a paste. This will take 5 to 10 minutes depending on the amount stress you need to alleviate. Or if you have a small blender or other food grinder/processor that can produce a smooth paste, use it instead. Stir in the fish sauce.

Place the chicken and the marinade in a large ziploc and turn to coat well. Let stand, covered, at room temperature for about 1 hour or in the refrigerator for as long as 3 hours.

Preheat your grill. If using the breast pieces, thread the chicken pieces onto kebab skewers (I use metal ones). Grill about 6 minutes, or until golden brown on one side, Then, turn over and cook until golden brown on the other side and the juices run clear when the meat is pierced.

Transfer the chicken pieces to a platter and serve with the dipping sauce along with jasmine or other rice. I usually give each person a small dipping sauce bowl.

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