Zak Pelaccio's Chicken Breasts with Garlic-Chili-Ginger Sauce

No.

No.

No, no, no, no, no.

I most emphatically disagree with this recipe. I wish it wouldn't exist. It vexed me, irritated me, annoyed me to my core. It it were up to me, I'd strike it from existence. In short, I hated it.

It sort of hurt, hating it. After all, I love Zak Pelaccio's food. If it were up to me, I'd have a standing lunch date at the Fatty Crab every week. Also, I loved the mission of the article accompanying the recipe: how to make the lame old skinless, boneless chicken breast glam again. Loved it! (Also, must try the sauerkraut-stuffed, pan-fried chicken breast recipe now).

But this recipe was a doozy: my "gently cooked" chicken breasts were hard as rocks. I have poached many a chicken breast in my time and they've always been tender, juicy, a joy. These were rubbery, hideous things. German chicken breasts? Or this recipe? I'm looking at you, recipe.

Second of all, and this, I realize, is partially my failing because I emphatically do not subscribe to the school of Raw Garlic Adoration, but the Garlic-Chili-Ginger Sauce was so heavy on the stuff that it practically hurt. I woke up in the middle of the night after eating, oh, a teaspoon of the sauce, and had to go brush my teeth a second time. In the dark. In the middle of the night.

One word: UGH. Another word: wouldn't half as many garlic cloves still have worked?

The sweetened soy sauce was kind of interesting to know about, and the spicy broth was nice: I used it to cook rice the next day and that was totally tasty. But if that's the best thing that this recipe has to offer, I'm leaving it behind me in the dust.

Onward!

Oh, and one administrative thing: After many, many requests, I finally got around to putting an RSS feed link on the blog. Want to subscribe to The Wednesday Chef? Look over in the left-hand column, all the way at the bottom. Enjoy. And thanks for your patience!

Chicken Breasts with Garlic-Chili-Ginger Sauce
Serves 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, 8 ounces each
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 5-inch-long piece fresh ginger root, peeled
8 fat garlic cloves
4 jalapeño peppers
1 quart chicken broth
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons fish sauce
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice, more to taste
Cooked rice, for serving
Sesame oil, for drizzling
1 bunch roughly chopped basil, for serving
1 bunch roughly chopped cilantro, for serving
1 bunch thinly sliced scallions, for serving
1 European cucumber, thinly sliced, for serving

1. Cut each chicken breast in half crosswise and season with salt and pepper.

2. Slice about an inch of ginger root into thin rounds and place in a large pot. Coarsely chop remaining ginger and place in a blender. Thinly slice 2 garlic cloves and add to pot. Coarsely slice remaining garlic and add to blender. Thinly slice 2 jalapeño peppers and add them to pot. Halve remaining peppers, discard seeds and coarsely chop flesh; place in blender.

3. Add chicken broth to pot and bring to a simmer. Let cook for 10 minutes. Add chicken pieces to broth and let liquid come back to a simmer. Immediately turn off heat, cover pot and let sit for 10 minutes. Cut into a piece of chicken to test for doneness. If it is not done, bring broth back to a bare simmer, then turn off heat, cover and let sit for an additional minute or two.

4. In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce and brown sugar until sugar mostly dissolves. Set aside. To the mixture in blender add fish sauce and lime juice along with 1/4 cup broth from pot. Puree, if necessary adding a little more broth to help mixture move in blender. Taste and add a pinch of salt and more lime if needed.

5. When chicken is done, transfer to a cutting board and slice. Remove garlic and pepper from broth and discard, if you like. To serve, heap rice in 4 shallow bowls and top with chicken slices. Spoon several tablespoons broth over chicken and rice, then drizzle with sweet soy sauce and sesame oil. Sprinkle on the herbs, scallions and cucumber. Serve garlic-chili-ginger sauce on the side; have additional sesame oil and sweet soy sauce on table for more drizzling.

Comments

[Anna @unsweetenedcocoa.ca]

I usually take out most of the garlic in a recipe--I prefer very little; I hate feeling like I need to take a shower after I eat! A shame it didn't turn out though....it LOOKS so beautiful!

[Krissy]

I couldn't agree more. I made this when the recipe was published and was disappointed - for all the reasons you've cited. The spicy broth was the only piece worth keeping!

[the lacquer spoon]

I love chicken with soy which gives depth of flavour :)

[Mama JJ]

I'm impressed that you have the energy to give a bad review and then still bother to type up the recipe, in spite of everything. I HATE typing recipes, and I have to be really motivated by my desire to share something special in order to buckle down and do the tedious work.

[TheKitchenWitch]

I love it that you include Epic Fails along with your successes. I do that too, and find that many times, people enjoy the "fail posts" more than the ones that turn out. We can all relate to the ARGH! feeling when you follow a recipe to the letter and the end result is miserable. My most recent fail: Kale Chips. Ugh!

[Eva]

I feel your pain on getting up twice or three times in the middle of the night when to much garlic has been put in things...I had this issue the other night, so annoying. Too bad the recipe was no good...however sometimes it is good to have this happen and you can recover by making something else that is amazing!

[Christine]

What makes it all the more sad is that this photo makes it look amazing. Like I had no desire to make the recipe (I would rather just make the whole Hainan Chicken), and then I saw this and thought! hooray! it came out! and then was sadly deflated.

[Maya]

Oh no! I bookmarked this recipe as soon as I read the article; so disappointed that it was a failure. Maybe the broth could be put to use elsewhere, at least?

[ChefDylan - From Cook to Chef Blog]

In your failures you will probably learn something that will help you with another dish... everyday is a learning day!

Having said that the recipe does sound delicious, I hate it when something doesnt taste how you expect.

Dylan

[Janet]

I also am always looking for recipes that will make chicken breasts palatable, and my most recent find was "Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic" (a James Beard recipe on LeitesCulinaria.com). Even the boneless breast pieces turned out juicy and delicious.

Regarding your administrative note, your website has had an RSS feed for quite some time, as that is how I've been reading it for months (but that is with Internet Explorer; as I write this, I'm realizing that perhaps your website had that enabled, but not for other browsers other folks are using?).

[Janet]

p.s. In regards to the "Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic" -- the garlic can be completely omitted, as it is not crucial to the flavor of the dish.

[Heather]

Funny, because you've been in my RSS reader for some time, but maybe a some people need a helping hand. Nice to know you're facilitating it. Re: Janet above, I use Firefox, and Google Reader.

[Katie @ Cozydelicious]

So sad! This recipe does LOOK yummy. Except that whole raw garlic thing. I do totally agree. It's just overpowering and pretty much defeats the purpose of adding anything else to the dish, in my opinion. But still, so sad when a recipe that should be wonderful is anything but.

[jenny]

oh nooooo!! I was going to make this *this week.* well, I should be grateful to you for saving me the trouble, but I had such high hopes for this recipe and now I am sorely disappointed. guess I'll have to find something else to do with those chicken breasts. >

[Molly]

dangit, i hate it when reviewers always pussyfoot around, throwing out neutral terms and useless "maybes...."
heh. love it. full disclosure, and laughs to boot. and no, i don't like raw garlic by the bucket, either.

[Maria]

I am loving that sauce!

[Erika from The Pastry Chef At Home]

hmmm. Ive never subscribed to the school of Raw Garlic Adoration either! Judging by the ingredient list it seems like a tasty dish. However, hard rubbery chicken breasts is a turnoff! I think we all totally appreciate your honesty.

[fourfoodies]

Thanks again for the interesting and visually stimulating article.

[I'm a Hungry Bunny Today!]

Funny I was hunting for chicken on your site yesterday! I'm looking for a great bone-in leg/thigh recipe. Something French/Italian/Euro inspired and that isn't greasy. Thanks for your review on this dud and for saving me the time , ingredients and experience :)

[Janjam]

The photo look like the chicken rice Asian version! I am from Thailand and made The Chicken Rice all the time for family and friends and the recipe is very different to this version!

Check out this link if you might try a better version of Chicken rice.

http://www.tan-kitchen.com/2009/06/thai-chicken-rice-or-khao-mun-khai.html

Look at how the sauce is in this link.
http://www.enjoythaifood.com/chickenrice.php

[A Mouse Bouche]

bummer! i loved that article. sorry it was such a bust, but selfishly I'm glad you tried it before I did. Please do the sauerkraut stuffed ones next. I'm dying to try that...

[Hungry Caterpillar]

The recipe looks like a version of chicken rice, but it's so much better with chicken thighs. We bring water with ginger and spring onion to the boil, turn off the heat and then submerge a whole chicken into it for about an hour covered. The chicken is soft, silky, tender and juicy, even the breast.

The stock is used to cook rice. The sauce is made of red chilli and garlic, with a tablespoon of the chicken stock.

[Julia of Randomly Yours, Julia]

It looks so beautiful on the plate! Such a pity - it sounds good, though I would immediately have cut out the garlic, because it makes me cough like a smoker.
Maybe I will fiddle with the sauce ingredients and cook the chicken differently?

[Luisa]

Kitchen Witch - rats! I've always wanted to try those.

Heather and Janet - interesting! I wonder which browsers don't support the RSS then...Anyway, now it's official. :)

Hungry Caterpillar - that sounds DIVINE!

[I'm a Hungry Bunny Again]

p.s. Your photography looks great!

[Hollowlegs]

Looks like a lazy version of Hainanese chicken rice, one of the great hawker dishes of all time, and the subject of many a heated debate in Singapore as to which hawker stall produces the best version thereof. The recipe is nothing like the real thing which would explain why it's a dud. True Hainanese chicken rice is a thing of beauty and a joy forever (well, for at least as long as it takes to gobble down a delicious plateful!)

[Annie Browne]

I'm with you on the garlic thing...it's such a strong ingredient! What dish really needs 8 cloves??? Sheesh! Anyhoo, good venture, looks great!

[Lobstersquad]

I loved this recipe. My chicken did come out juicy and great, and as for the garlic, well, I left out a lot of it, because I´m not a devotee of the blasting breath, either. But then, I usually do that with recipes, tone down the garlic and chili, not use the whole amount and complain later.
It´s not as good as true Hainan chicken, but for a quick meal it made me very happy.
Loving the Berliner posts btw, I´m glad you haven´t abandoned the good old NYT.

[Richard in Cambridge]

I loved this recipe. Cooked according to the recipe, the chicken was moist and tender. The combination of the sauces was rich, complex, and wonderful. Tastes even better the second day. Give it a try.

[cookeaze]

These look really good, your recipes always work so I will have to put these in my cooklists..Thanks a lot!

[deana @lostpastremembered]

There are just too many great things in this for it to be bad... I still want to try it!!!

[CookEatLove]

YUMMERS!!!! Seriously.

[Sharmila]

I LOVE garlic, but am befuddled by this recipe. 6 cloves of raw garlic in a sauce? IMO, at such instance, the garlic has moved past the point of stinky yet interesting into that stuff you use to take errant paint of your car. I'm fairly certain (even as a rank cooking amateur) that only 1 or 2 ought to have done it. Talk about overkill...
I loved the article too, though the whole chicken breast issue has me puzzled. It's my favourite part of the chicken. I don't get its pariah status among the connoisseurs. What's not to like?

[molly]

Hmmm, this one was next on my list.

I did make the ham and provolone stuffed, breaded one. Tasty, but not amazing. Definitely fun to do, as it was unlike anything I usually cook, and also actually quite easy (my 2 year old loved assisting). In deference to said 2y.o. I left out the sauerkraut, even though I knew that was the ingredient that would make it truly special. Without it, the end result tasted like a crispy, meaty, grilled-cheese sandwich. And that's okay in my book.

[mara]

I made the recipe as directed and it was a big disappointment - the chicken was rubbery and the sauce was too strong; but I had leftover sauce and I thought I could make it better, so I made it again. This time I sear roasted the chicken and made a sauce of chicken broth, sweet soy sauce and added the garlic-chili-ginger sauce to taste and it was really good.

[Texasstars]

Actually, this was an amazingly good dinner. We had it the next day for left overs and I can't wait to make it again. Deliciously flavorful!