Chicken Clay Pot!

Well, I've only had my clay pot for probably 10 years and I don't think I'd ever used it before.  I bought it at some little Asian-inspired market on Clement Street in San Francisco with the full intent to use it immediately.  I mean, what's not to love about meat cooked in brothy goodness?  Then I realized that I would need to soak it in water for at least 12 hours before using it (that was the clerk's recommendation), and suddenly it became a time challenge that just didn't seem to find the right time. So it sat at the back of the cupboard gathering dust until I recently ended up with some boneless skinless chicken thighs (not my favorite cut) that I was determined to find a use for.

So I got on line in search of one of my all time favorite clay pot dishes - compliments of Charles Phan, God of Slanted Door.  I found it here.  Of course I would also be making a tofu version.  After prepping the chicken/tofu and getting it into the fridge in its spice mixture, I slowly melted the brown sugar:

Once it was burbling away I added the fish sauce (watch out - it bubbles up quickly and hardens the sugar almost immediately until the heat re-melts it), followed by the soy sauce mixture and chicken.  In a short 8-10 minutes the chicken and tofu were ready.  And though it's been a little while since I ate at Slanted Door, I think my version bore a distinct resemblance to the original.  Yay!

But for the time I had to soak the pot, this ended up being a delicious meal that came together really quickly.  Definitely something you can make on a weeknight, IF you remember to soak your pot. I'll be making it again, though I'll probably bastardize it (please don't tell Chuck) by using all chicken breast so I don't have to deal with cutting up those gross fatty little thighs.