Char Siu Chicken
Andrea Nguyen’s savory-sweet char siu chicken is easy to make and hard to resist.
This easy char siu chicken recipe comes from Vietnamese Food Any Day: Simple Recipes for True, Fresh Flavors by Andrea Nguyen. Nguyen writes, “Savory-sweet and garlicky Chinese barbecued pork, called char siu in Cantonese and xá xíu in Vietnamese, is hard to resist. Since the classic porky version requires a good hour (better yet, overnight) to marinate, my weeknight approach is to make it with chicken thighs and grill it for a wonderful old-school flavor…Enjoy char siu chicken for dinner with rice and a quick stir-fried vegetable or a salad. Use leftovers (or make a double batch) for banh mi, a noodle soup, or fried rice.” My only tweak to the recipe was to increase the quantities and double the sauce because it’s that good.
The nice thing about this recipe is that very little prep is required; most of the ingredients come out of bottles and jars. The most time-consuming part of the recipe is trimming the chicken thighs (I find it easiest to use sharp kitchen shears). If you don’t want to use dark meat, go ahead and use chicken tenderloins. Just keep in mind that they’ll cook in half the time and you’ll need slightly less since they don’t need to be trimmed.
What You’ll Need To Make Char Siu Chicken
The nice thing about this recipe is that very little prep is required; most of the ingredients come out of bottles and jars. The most time-consuming part of the recipe is trimming the chicken thighs (I find it easiest to use sharp kitchen shears). If you don’t want to use dark meat, go ahead and use chicken tenderloins. Just keep in mind that they’ll cook in half the time and you’ll need slightly less since they don’t need to be trimmed.
How To Make Char Siu Chicken
In a large bowl, stir together the garlic, five-spice powder, honey, hoisin, soy sauce, ketchup, and sesame oil.
Remove about half the marinade and set aside for glazing the chicken. Add the chicken to the bowl, coating the pieces well. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes, or refrigerate up to 24 hours (return to room temperature before cooking).
