| 1 | lb | chicken breast |
| 1 | taste | salt |
| 1 | taste | black pepper |
| 0.42 | ft | ginger |
| 8 | clove | garlic |
| 4 | unit | jalapenos |
| 2.8 | cup | chicken stock |
| 1.2 | cup | chicken broth |
| 3 | tbsp | soy sauce |
| 2 | tbsp | brown sugar |
| 1.2 | tsp | fish sauce |
| 0.8 | tsp | vegan fish sauce (or soy sauce) |
| 0.67 | tbsp | lime juice |
| 0.25 | bunch | basil, roughly chopped for garnish |
| 0.25 | bunch | cilantro, roughly chopped for garnish |
| 0.25 | bunch | scallions, roughly chopped for garnish |
| 0.5 | blocks | tofu |
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012996-chicken-with-garlic-chili-ginger-sauce
Freeze the tofu a couple days beforehand. This helps it take on a more spongy texture, and it can thaw/cook in the broth. You can either chop it into bite-sized cubes prior to freezing or freeze it and then thaw/squeeze out excess water before cubing it.
Cut each chicken breast in half crosswise and season with salt and pepper.
For the remaining steps:
Make 2 broths, one with vegetable stock and one with chicken stock. Use approx 1/3 of the herbs/spices in the veg version and the remaining in the meat version.
Slice about 1/4 of the ginger root into thin rounds and place in a large pot. Coarsely chop remaining ginger and place in a blender. Thinly slice 1/4 of the garlic cloves and add to pot. Coarsely slice remaining garlic and add to blender. Thinly slice 1/2 of the jalapeño peppers and add them to pot. Halve remaining peppers, discard seeds and coarsely chop flesh; place in blender. (May want to reduce the amount used based on dh spice tolerance.)
Add chicken broth to one pot and the veg broth to the other and bring both to a simmer. Let cook for 10 minutes. Add chicken pieces/tofu pieces to broth and let liquid come back to a simmer. Immediately turn off heat, cover pot and let sit for 10 minutes. Cut into a piece of chicken to test for doneness. If it is not done, bring broth back to a bare simmer, then turn off heat, cover and let sit for an additional minute or two.
In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce and brown sugar until sugar mostly dissolves. Set aside. To the mixture in blender add fish sauce (vegan fish sauce or more soy for the vegetarians) and lime juice along with 1/4 cup broth from pot. Puree, if necessary adding a little more broth to help mixture move in blender. Taste and add a pinch of salt and more lime if needed.
When chicken is done, transfer to a cutting board and slice. Remove garlic and pepper from broth and discard, if you like.
Serve with rice (epic), the leftover broth, the sweet soy mixture, and any other garnishes remaining in the ingredients.