Vinegar Chicken Around the World

Acidity is as central a component to Poulet Au Vinaigre (Chicken with Vinegar) as the chicken itself. A classic dish of Lyonnaise cuisine — a good glug of white wine vinegar in the sauce, aka Sauce Lyonnaise, tenderizes and enriches the meat as the name suggests. Scented with sweated onions, and embellished with demi-glace, a thick, rich brown sauce made of reduced stock, it’s the archetype of bistro fare if I’ve ever had. That said, it’s not the only vinegar-ed chicken around, but has served as my gateway to other piquant poultries: Chicken Yassa from Senegal, Huli-huli chicken from Hawaii, and even Culiuji (醋溜鸡, Sichuan Vinegar Chicken) from China. Vinegar may not be in the name of these latter vinegar chickens — but it’s certainly in the sauce.

Vinegar Chicken is enlightening, it takes a simple bird and brightness it up to a boastful best. The recipe of my affection is in my book ACID TRIP, and comes from legendary New York City chef Daniel Boulud—who grew up in Lyon. Boulud apprenticed at George Blanc, a Michelin-starred restaurant in the town, but it wasn’t Blanc who taught him the dish, it was Blanc’s mother.  When Boulud moved to Manhattan, he brought the recipe with him. He noticed that  most vinaigrettes in New York often had a pinch of sugar to soften them, whereas back in France the degree of acidity and sharpness was far more pronounced. He brought this more intense flavor sensibility to his metropolitan kitchens, establishing himself as one of the city’s top French chefs, relying on countryside classics transformed for an urban clientele.

Claud’s Chicken with Garlic & Vinegar by Karissa Ong

Riffing on the French recipe Claud’s eclectic European-inspired East Village restaurant, serves a half chicken with garlic and vinegar. There, the chicken is cured, rubbed in compound butter, and dressed with a vinaigrette of chardonnay vinegar, white wine, and whole pitted Manzanilla olives. But there are other birds in town too that are just as tantalizing — Brooklyn-based Pierre Thiam has long served Chicken Yassa, a braised chicken dish In Casamance, Senegal, where his parents are from, lemon juice provides all the necessary acidity in the marinade. But over time, the recipe has evolved to incorporate white vinegar. “I think it was convenient to use white distilled vinegar, especially if you rely on fresh lemon and they’re not in season,” says Thiam, “Vinegar is year round on supermarket shelves.” A further evolution introduced a third acid — mustard. “Mustard is something you may see accepted everywhere, but purists don’t use mustard — it’s the colonial addition,” says Thiam, who tends to stick to citrus and/or vinegar. In his books Yolele! Recipes From the Heart of Senegal, the recipe calls for limes, which you can sub some white distilled vinegar in for, and in The Fonio Cookbook, it suggests white vinegar alone.

Reprinted from "The Fonio Cookbook: An Ancient Grain Rediscovered" by Pierre Thiam, Lake Isle Press, 2019. Photos by Adam Bartos.

Whereas Chicken Yassa utilizes vinegar in both marinade and sauce, huli huli chicken sticks solely to the sauce. In her book Aloha Kitchen: Recipes from Hawai'i, Alana Kysar, offers up, “a grilled chicken marinated in a teriyaki-style sauce.” The recipe was first coined by Ernest Morgago in 1995, when “huli huli” which translates to “turn turn” referred to its grilling method. “The general formula for this recipe is ginger, garlic, soy sauce, a sweetener (brown sugar, honey or even maple syrup), and an acid (vinegar, pineapple juice or citrus), and oftentimes ketchup,” Kysar says. For this dish, she prefers to use Japanese rice vinegars like Mizkan or Marukan, as much of Hawaii’s food is influenced by East Asian cultures. Although citrus is grown in abundance in Hawaii, vinegar has long been a strong flavor profile in much of the cuisine.

Recently, I came across another “vinegar chicken” — this time, with origins in China. Culiuji, 醋溜鸡, or Sichuan Vinegar Chicken. A hot (spicy!) chicken dish, with a salty, sweet and sour flavor, it hits all the marks of a magnificent vinegar chicken dinner. To dig deeper, I reached out to Qinou Zhang, an expert on Sichuan cuisine. “It was supposedly created by Liao Qing Ting, a famous Chongqing culinary master in the early-to-mid 20th century,” says Zhang, admitting that it’s difficult to prove the recipe’s provenance.. Culiuji follows the concept of “liu”, a method in which the chicken is first deep-fried, steamed or boiled and then stir fried in a sharp sauce composed of sweet (sugar), and sour (vinegar). The cooked chicken and sauce are applied hot and immediately, so the dish doesn’t get soggy.

“In Sichuan, the locally famous vinegar used in the past was Baoning, made from bran and rice,” states Zhang; it’s a black vinegar that is deep and profound, or as Zhang says, “thick umami, with herbs used in the fermentation yeast.” As complex as that sounds, it’s still bright and balanced, as all good vinegar chickens should be. 

RECIPES

Huli Huli Chicken

Alana Kysar, Aloha Kitchen: Recipes from Hawai’i

½ cup ketchup

½ cup soy sauce

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup rice vinegar

One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated

3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs

In a large bowl, whisk together the ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, ginger, and garlic until well combined. Reserve 1⁄3 cup of the mixture for later. To the remaining mixture, add the chicken and stir to evenly coat it. You can transfer this mixture with the chicken to a gallon- size ziplock bag or simply cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours, turning the chicken at least once.

After marinating the chicken, oil your grill grates well. Heat the grill to medium and grill the chicken for 5 to 7 minutes on each side, until cooked through, basting it with the reserved marinade after you turn it. Serve immediately.

Poulet Au Vinaigre with Pommes Lyonnaise and Bouquet Garni Vinegar

Photo by Michael Harlan Turkell, “ACID TRIP: Travels in the World of Vinegar”, Abrams

Daniel Boulud, Daniel, NYC, from “ACID TRIP: Travels in the World of Vinegar”

Serves 4

What makes any roast chicken even better?A side of starch to sop up all the juices! This version comes with Lyon-style potatoes, doused in an herb-infused vinegar, to make for a sweet and sour feast that any mother or chef would be proud to serve.

For the chicken:

Salt

12 - 15 cherry tomatoes, about 1 cup

½ tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 whole chicken, 2-3 pounds, cut into 8 pieces

Freshly ground white pepper

2 large shallots, sliced

5 ounces pearl onions

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour

¼ cup tarragon vinegar (*try Martin Pouret)

1 cup chicken stock

½ bunch tarragon

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and set a bowl of ice water on the side. Score an X on the bottoms of the tomatoes. Boil the tomatoes for 5 seconds, or until the skins loosen on the bottom. Strain and peel under cold running water; set aside.

In a braising pan, melt the butter with the oil over medium- high heat. Season the chicken on all sides with salt and pep- per. Add the chicken to the pan skin-side down and sear until golden brown on both sides, about 10 minutes total. Transfer the chicken to a platter, set aside, and strain all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the shallots and onions to the pan. Cook, stirring, until the shallots are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the vinegar, bring to a simmer, then stir in the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan. Return the chicken to the pan with half of the tomatoes and the tarragon. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stir- ring occasionally. Add the remaining tomatoes, cover, and simmer for another 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

For the potatoes:

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled, and sliced ¼ inch thick

1 vidalia onion, halved lengthwise and sliced very thinly crosswise

Kosher salt

Black pepper

1 tablespoon bouquet granny vinegar, recipe below

½ bunch parsley, leaves chopped, stems removed

In a very large nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium- high heat until it shimmers. Add the potatoes in a slightly overlap- ping layer and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and nearly cooked through, about 8 minutes. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions and potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes longer. Add the vinegar and gently toss to combine. Add the parsley just before serving.

For the Bouquet Garni Vinegar:

1 750-ml bottle of good-quality white wine vinegar

3 cloves garlic, cut in half

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 small bay leaf

Parsley stems, from recipe above

In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, warm the vinegar to 175°F (80°C). Slide the garlic and herbs into the vinegar bottle, and then use a funnel to pour the warm vinegar back into the bottle. Chill and keep refrigerated. The longer it infuses, the more savory it will be. Serve chicken and potatoes in two separate dishes for family style.