And why not? Caramelization creates a delicious sauce that is savory, sweet, spicy, salty, and thick enough to nicely coat whichever meat you decide to cook.

My cousin came over while I was preparing this dish and asked, “what stinks?!” It was fish sauce and vinegar. A lot of folks shy away from fish sauce because of the smell, but they should give it a shot! I don’t sit around whiffing fish sauce, but it’s a vital flavor component of the dish.

If you are really afraid of the odor in your house you can always cook it outside or as a last resort substitute soy sauce instead, but the flavor will not be the same.

And if you’re strapped for time and cash, this ga kho recipe is the perfect solution (recipe adapted from Food Wishes).

Ingredients:

the marinade
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoons brown sugar

the meat
1.5 lbs chicken drumsticks (you can use any cut desired)

the sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 shallot, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced

last second additions
2 sprigs of scallion, roughly chopped 1/2″-3/4″ long
1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
1 thai chili, thinly sliced

vegetable oil for frying

Method:

1. Marinade in about 2 tablespoons fish sauce and 1 tablespoons brown sugar for a least 1 hour. Rotate and redistribute marinade after the first 30 minutes.

2. Combine for the sauce: 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup fish sauce, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, 1/4 cup water

3. Then add to the sauce 1 tablespoon minced ginger, 1 minced shallot, and 3 cloves minced garlic.

4. Heat a pan on high heat, then add some vegetable oil. Add the chicken and rotate as it browns. This should only take a 1-2 minutes.

5. Turn down the heat to about medium so the chicken can cook through.

6. Add some of the sauce, just enough to color and kind of baste the meat as it cooks.

You could add the rest of the sauce now too, but I find it makes more sense to cook them separately so you can control the doneness of the chicken and thickness of the sauce independently.

7. Remove the chicken. Add the rest of the sauce and cook on medium high heat until it just reaches desired consistency.

8. Add the sliced jalapeno and scallion to cook just slightly as the sauce finishes. If you want more bite to the jalapeno, slice it thicker and don’t let it cook too much (same with the scallion).

Serve with rice.

That’s right SASOON CHICKEN. Even the posted newspaper inside doesn’t get the name right.

Sasoon dishes out consistently delicious Armenian food. They have tummy busting quantities at a very fair price. Over the years I have noticed the prices have slowly crept up, but it’s still decent.

I believe this is a family run business and the workers here are VERY friendly. They’re always happy to see a return customer.

I first visited yearsss ago when my diet consisted of nachos and.. nachos. Why would anyone come here when Taco Mesa was across the street?

What convinced me to visit Sasoon Chicken was PCH Hotdogs next door failing to hit the spot. Now I often find myself drooling for some Sasoon.

First, you need to be aware of the garlic. The paste you see below in the little plastic ramekins? Yes, that stuff!

This seemingly innocuous little plop of garlic is almost my reason for visiting. It has the consistency of butter. Melt-in-your-mouth smooth with a spicy kick of the garlic. The owners swear its just pure garlic, but I swear there’s crack in it.

The shish kabob sandwich:

Shish tavouk (chicken) plate:

Combo plates come with slightly sour potato, hummus, rice, pita, and your choice of grilled meat. If you’re a first timer I would recommend the super-juicy chicken plate. Hummus and pita go well with the meat.

Since the shish tavouk is so good, I would not get the beef again. There’s some sort of tomato paste on the beef which which hits me the wrong way and it just isn’t as flavorful.

Beef and chicken shawerma are also nice options to try. They are pitas stuffed with meat and either garlic paste or tahini and diced tomatoes.

I finally got to try the sujuk–an Armenian sausage. It was really dried out, and garlic paste barely saved it. This is really the only thing I haven’t liked here.

I would still be going here once a week if I lived nearby. I miss you Sasoon Chicken!

Sasoon Chicken
3440 E Chapman Ave
Orange, CA 92869
(714) 516-9600