Now and again we stumble across a recipe that makes me wonder where has this delicious food been all our lives?
Today’s Sambal Ginger Sriracha Grilled Chicken is one of those recipes; working through some trials to dial this one in has led to my lovely wife consistently stealing all the leftovers for her work lunch, and her insisting this one drop immediately into the weekly rotation.
This recipe, intended I suppose originally for the grill, was crafted to use chicken thighs, given their deep, rich flavor and tendency to not dry out when properly handled quickly over the fire, though chicken breasts, reasonably thinly sliced in long strips and threaded on the skewers work well too – just don’t overcook and dry them out.
That said, rained out one evening I had a recipe version test planned, I seared the chicken up in a big carbon steel skillet and it was outrageously good, so there’s your backup plan if for some reason grilling is out.
Finally, with regard to something to sweeten the recipe, traditionally most would reach for brown sugar here. Count me among those who would rationally argue that a tablespoon or two (or even a little more) of brown sugar in a marinade, over the long run and done occasionally, isn’t something to lose sleep over (though no doubt there are those among the Paleo and Keto police who would disagree vehemently).
We have trialed this one with several different sugar / sweetener subs, and found them all off-putting compared to the recipe as written below using a bit of brown sugar. One of the great things about being a big kid and cooking your own food is that you get to make the call on your own ingredient list – modify to your heart’s content.
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp rice vinegar (best with unseasoned)
1/2 cup hot chile paste
1/3 cup Sriracha
1/4 to 1/2 cup sweetener of choice, see note above
2-3 tbsp finely sliced green onions, white and pale green parts
1 tbsp grated or finely chopped fresh ginger
2-3 tsp grated or finely chopped garlic
1 and 1/2 pounds chicken thighs (skinless, boneless) cut roughly into 2-inch pieces
Combine the marinade/sauce ingredients in a small bowl, whisk well to mix and dissolve whatever sweetener you’ve elected to use. Pour approximately 1/3 of the mixture into a large resealable bag, reserve the remainder in the fridge.
Now add the chicken to the bagged marinade, and squish it around to coat all the chicken. Seal the bag and let is rest in the fridge for at least an hour, up to overnight.
When ready to cook, fire the grill, and thread the chicken pieces onto your skewers of choice (don’t forget to soak the bamboo skewers for an hour beforehand if that’s your cup of tea). I like to use the double skewer technique to keep the pieces from spinning on the turns.
As the grill is heating, pour the reserved marinade/sauce into a small saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Bring it to a simmer and slowly reduce until thick enough to coat a spoon, then set aside.
Grill the chicken turning every two minutes or so and basting at each turn with the reduced sauce; these will need 8-10 minutes pending how hot your fire is.
Great hot or cold, and set the remaining sauce on the table for who want to drizzle a little more heat on…
Enjoy.
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