Roasted Chicken With Fish-Sauce Butter

Name: Roasted Chicken With Fish-Sauce Butter
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 pounds); Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 3/4 pound bread, crusts removed, bread torn into bite-size pieces (about 4 cups; see Tip); 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar; 1 tablespoon fish sauce; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, kept whole; Cilantro leaves with tender stems, for serving

By Eric Kim

Published Sept. 25, 2022

Roasted Chicken With Fish-Sauce Butter — Christopher Simpson for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews

Total Time: 45 minutes
Rating: 5(2,956)
Comments: Read comments

Roasting chicken thighs in a hot oven is a hands-off way to achieve two of life’s greatest pleasures: crispy skin and golden schmaltz. And you want that chicken fat because it will crisp hand-torn bread into croutons. This meal is made even more lovely thanks to a bold but balanced fish-sauce butter that you whip up on the stovetop while the rest of the meal takes care of itself in the oven. Be sure to start with cold butter; the gradual melting of the fat helps thicken the sauce without breaking it.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

4bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 2 pounds)
Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper
2tablespoons olive oil
¾pound bread, crusts removed, bread torn into bite-size pieces (about 4 cups; see Tip)
1tablespoon dark brown sugar
1tablespoon fish sauce
1tablespoon lemon juice
3tablespoons cold unsalted butter, kept whole
Cilantro leaves with tender stems, for serving

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Preparation

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Step 1
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season lightly with salt and pepper. (The fish-sauce butter is plenty salty, so don’t overdo the salt here.) Arrange the chicken skin-side up on a sheet pan and drizzle the oil over the chicken skin, coating it evenly. Roast until the chicken is light gold and the sheet pan is pooling with hot, rendered chicken fat, about 25 minutes.
Step 2
Take the sheet pan out of the oven, scatter the bread around the chicken and toss gently to coat in the chicken fat. Place the pan back in the oven and roast until the chicken is golden, crispy and sizzling (you’ll hear it), about 15 minutes.
Step 3
While the chicken roasts, combine the brown sugar, fish sauce and lemon juice in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook, occasionally swirling the pan or stirring the sauce with a wooden spoon, until bubbling vigorously and the mixture has reduced by about half, 2 to 3 minutes. This part is fun: Turn off the heat and add the butter, constantly swirling the pan or stirring with a wooden spoon, until all of the butter has melted and incorporated into the fish sauce mixture.
Step 4
To serve, scatter the cilantro all over the chicken and bread and spoon some of the fish-sauce butter over each chicken thigh, reserving some to add to each plate for dipping the chicken and croutons while eating (which is divine).

Tip

Many breads will work here, especially stale loaves that you’re trying to use up. Crusty sourdough lends pleasurable tang for instance, while chewy tender milk bread tastes comfortingly sweet.

Ratings

5 out of 5

2,956 user ratings

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Comments

abbie4 years ago

A hit with 2 adults and 2 kids. A couple observations: 1) even though it seems like it won’t be enough sauce, it’s very intense and you don’t need more than the recipe calls for (ie don’t double it like I did). 2) keep an eye on the bread so it doesn’t burn (ie don’t let your bread burn like I did)

Sarah P4 years ago

This recipe is absolutely fantastic. My husband and I muttered “oh my god” multiple times while eating this. We made it with gluten free bread and it worked perfectly. I wouldn’t change a single thing - make it exactly as written. Salty sour sweet umami Oh my god! Served with roasted Brussel sprouts with apricot preserves and bacon. Best home cooked meal we’ve made it months.

DW994 years ago

Pls don't use foil--we hv a trash (pollution) crisis in addition to the climate crisis. We're hated globally for our excesses, so this is a nat.-sec. issue, too. Pls: * Use tea towels to wring greens/press tofu. * When chillg pie crust, wrap it in waxed paper, & wrap that in a tea towel. * Cover restg bread dough w a tea towel. * Store food in reusable containers, or in the fridge in their cookg pot/servg bowl (covered w a plate or lid). Our ancestors cooked well w-o disposables; we can, too.

PatMaC2 weeks ago

Boiled small round potatoes, smashed them, mixed with potato starch and oil, then placed them on the baking sheet with the chicken instead of the bread. It was absolutely delicious! Smashed potatoes and chicken, can’t go wrong.

Mandy3 weeks ago

This recipe is on high rotation in my home as it is so simple, requires a minimum of ingredients and can be whipped up in no time. The flavours that emerge are absolutely delicious. I use the remains of my own home baked sourdough which I now save in the freezer especially for this recipe. I tried the roasting method but found I couldn’t achieve crispy skin so I prefer to start the thighs in a lodge on the stovetop adding bread part way then into a hot oven to finish off. This way it is easily accomplished in just over half an hour. Of course the fish sauce is the highlight so I double the quantity as there is never enough.

sarah1 month ago

Double or triple the sauce. Prioritize many many small croutons from the crustless portions of the loaf.

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