Sweet chilli and Soy baked chicken
Subscribe
Every night while I’m cooking dinner the twins come into the kitchen and ask me what I’m making. And every night they say “Sticky chicken?” before I get to answer. Most nights they are disappointed because even though I love sticky chicken, I can only eat it so many times before I turn into a sticky chicken.
It’s no secret that I love Asian flavours and so when I was faced with chicken thighs a few nights ago with very little inspiration, I decided to make a glaze filled with Asian flavours to bake them in. I started by making a chilli syrup to which I added fish sauce, soy sauce, ginger and garlic. I cooked this down to a delicious syrup and then coated the chicken in it. If you aren’t a fan of spicy food, you can of course leave the chilli out or add a smaller quantity. Alternatively, the Soy & Honey glaze I put on these pork chops will work just as well.
I served the chicken with the most scrumptious coconut rice which I made with Jasmine rice and coconut milk which I steamed together in the microwave oven. Disclosure… This is the only way I ever cook rice. My mom did it this way and I can’t do it any other way (unless I’m doing pilaf, etc). I have a pyrex dish with a fitted lid which works just perfectly. Perfectly fluffy rice, everytime!
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup soft brown sugar I used Demerara sugar
- 3/4 cup vinegar
- 1/3 cup dark soy sauce
- 1/3 cup fish sauce
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 2 teaspoons ginger finely grated
- 1-2 chillies finely chopped (depending on how spicy you like it)
- 8 fresh chicken thighs
- 1 mug around 350-400ml capacity jasmine rice
- 1 x 400ml coconut milk
- 1 mug use the rice mug chicken stock/water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- fresh lime wedges
- steamed green beans
-
To make the glaze for the chicken, combine the sugar and water together in a saucepan and allow to come to a simmer over high heat.
-
When the sugar has dissolved, add the chillies, vinegar, soy sauce, fish sauce, ginger and garlic. Allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes uncovered, until the glaze has reduced and is syrupy. If you are using previously frozen chicken, you'll need to cook it down more as the chicken will release a lot of water when it's cooking, diluting the glaze.
-
Pre-heat the oven to 180°c and line a roasting tray with foil.
-
Place the chicken thighs in the roasting tray then pour over the glaze.
-
Place in the oven and allow to bake for 30 minutes-45 minutes, glazing every 15 minutes with the glaze in the pan, until the chicken is dark and sticky and cooked through.
-
To make the rice, combine the rice, coconut milk, chicken stock/water and salt in a small pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook to packet instructions until rice is cooked through and fragrant.
-
Serve the chicken with the rice, lemon wedges and steamed green beans.
If using frozen chicken, boil the glaze for an extra 5 minutes and bake the chicken at a higher temperature, as the chicken will release a lot of moisture and will result in a runnier glaze consistency.
Leave a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Hi B. I always bake my chicken at 180 and it turns out well (remember it’s centigrade, not Fahrenheit). If you like, you can turn the oven up but then keep an eye on it as the sweet glaze can burn quite easily.
Are you sure the oven temp is 180 ? Seems too low.
I have to get some fish sauce and try this. The picture is making me drool! Could you give details on steaming coconut rice in the microwave? I’d LOVE to try that.
I simply use a pyrex dish with a lid and use half water/half coconut milk. I steam for approximately 20 minutes on high for 2 cups of rice and it works perfectly every time.
I made this the other night, and it was superb! I will definitely be making it again. Because I was only cooking for my husband and I, I halved the quantities for the rice and cooked it on the stove. If I had to do it in the microwave, how long would you suggest I cook it for? (I used Basmati rice). I have a Tupperware rice cooker. Would I be able to add coconut milk to that and cook it as I normally would (about 15 mins)? I’m a terrible rice maker!!
So glad you liked it Clea.
Yes, you can definitely make the rice with the coconut milk in the rice cooker!
Pinning to try these soon. Wish I was having them for dinner right now :0)
Love this recipe! Never thought I could glaze chicken with Asian ingredients this way. Definitely will try it this weekend. It’ll be nice to have fish sauce to enhance flavor and I like the coconut rice too! Great photos. Pinned and shared on G+. Thanks for the beautiful recipe 🙂
Thanks for your lovely comment Maggie and thanks for sharing!
Got to try this chicken. It looks so sticky good…and my love of coconut just coconut pushed me right over the edge with the rice.
I hope you enjoy it Bonny!
Hi Alida,
As jy gewone rys in die mikrogolf kook, hoe lank kook jy dit en teen watter temp?
Vervang jy die coconut milk met water?
Groete by jou
Annette, ek kook dit op hoë temperatuur vir so 20 minute and dan laat ek dit vir so ekstra 10 minute in die mikrogolf oond staan en stoom. Dis dan so beker vol ryd met 2 bekers water. Een van my bekers vat so ongeveer 350ml se water/rys. As dit net gewone rys is dan gebruik ek net water en sout.
Made this tonight and the sauce was very runny, even after boiling it 2x the called out time to cook. Are you sure the water amount (2cups) is correct? Thanks!
Julia, yes I used 500ml water which is 2 cups. The sauce is quite runny before you pour it onto the chicken because it will caramelise quite a bit in the time it takes for the chicken to cook. If it’s too thick when you pour it onto the chicken, it will burn and become bitter. It needs to be the consistency of maple syrup, like I stated in the recipe.
My sauce was runny after the chicken was cooked, the juices from the chicken made he sauce all runny :/
That’s such a pity. That didn’t happen to me, in fact the sauce almost became too thick. Did you use defrosted chicken by any chance?
Ha! Um, yes *blush*, thanks, now I know not to make that mistake again.
😉 It happens to the best of us. Sometimes defrosted chicken is fine but there are times where there is a LOT of water in the chicken that cooks out. If you can, try this again with fresh chicken and see if it works better?
I sure will!
I am drooling looking at your photos. I love all your photos & recipe; my hubby is going to be SO HAPPY eating this on the weekend 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing.
Thanks for the lovely comment Pang. Hope you guys like it!