Fish sauce caramel chicken drumsticks
Salty, sweet, spicy, sour and sticky, these drumsticks hit all the right notes. Recipe writer Addie Lewis uses a fish sauce and brown sugar marinade to coat the chicken, helping it caramelise and crisp up beautifully. Top with a scattering of pickled red chilli and watch them disappear from the buffet table in no time. Tuck into more Christmas party food recipes. Follow Addie on Instagram.
- Serves12
- CourseBuffet
- Prepare10 mins
- Cook40 mins
- Total time50 mins
Ingredients
- 1½kg chicken drumsticks
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 2 tsp baking powder (gluten free if needed)
- 1 red chilli, finely sliced
- 2 limes, juice
- 4 tbsp light brown soft sugar, plus a pinch
- 4 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp sriracha
- 2 salad onions, finely sliced
Method
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/160ºC fan/gas 3 and line a large baking tray with foil. Sit a wire rack over it. Pat the drumsticks dry with kitchen paper, then put in a large bowl or dish and sprinkle over the salt, baking powder and some freshly ground black pepper. Turn to coat well and spread out, not touching, on the wire rack. Cook for 40 minutes, turning halfway, until golden, cooked through, no pink meat remains and juices run clear.
Meanwhile, put the chilli in a small bowl with the juice of 1 lime and a pinch of both brown sugar and salt. Mix well, then set aside to quick-pickle.
During the final 10 minutes of the chicken cooking time, put the fish sauce, 4 tbsp brown sugar, the sriracha, remaining lime juice and 1 tbsp water in a small pan. Reduce over a medium heat for 10-12 minutes to a caramel.
Once the chicken is cooked, transfer to a large bowl, pour over the caramel (reheat first if the caramel has cooled and set) and toss well. Transfer to a platter and top with the pickled red chilli and sliced salad onions.
Cook’s tip
Simple swap
You can cook these in an air fryer at 200ºC for 25 minutes, turning them halfway, until cooked through.
Nutritional
Typical values per serving when made using specific products in recipe
Energy | 607kJ/ 144kcals |
|---|---|
Fat | 5.4g |
Saturated Fat | 1.4g |
Carbohydrates | 7.4g |
Sugars | 7.1g |
Fibre | 0g |
Protein | 16g |
Salt | 2.2g |