Among the specialties of Cambodian cuisine are caramelized dishes - dishes to which caramelized sugar gives a hint of sweetness. This was a new technique for me, and definitely one I was happy to try - for this dish of chicken with pineapple was delicious. It wasn't too sweet, despite the pineapple, it was well balanced and just plain satisfying. Definitely it made Cambodian cuisine proud.

The only thing I would alter if making it again is decreasing the amount of soy sauce - I thought it was a little too soyi. My husband disagreed, however.

I'm not sure if the original recipe called for boneless chicken, but I thought that was the best way to prepare this dish. I used thighs, as my daughter prefers dark meat, but you can use chicken breasts. I used canned pineapple, as the fresh pineapples at the supermarket weren't ripe enough. Feel free to use either. I also skipped the optional hot peppers (use 2 sliced birds eye peppers if you want) and the black pepper - as my kids don't like spicy food, and I forgot to add the two chopped green onions. I don't think it mattered.

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Chicken with pineapple

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 cups + 1 Tbsp. water
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 lbs boneless chicken thighs, cubed
• 1 can pineapple chunks

  Instructions

  Put the sugar and 1 Tbsp. water in a wok or similar dish. Put on medium-high heat, and cook until the sugar turns dark brown, stirring constantly. Add 2 cups of water and stir well.

  Add the garlic, fish sauce, sugar and salt. Stir well. Add the chicken and pineapple and stir. Cook until the chicken is cooked through.
  
  

  Adapted from a recipe at Khmer Krom Recipes