Shoyu Chicken

Since I live in Hawaii, I figure I better learn how to make a little local food every once in awhile.  This chicken is a staple here.  Its great because this chicken recipe does not need to be marinated ahead of time from what I hear, but I did, just to be on the safe side.  :)  Many people boil the chicken in the sauce for 30-45 minutes, turning every once in awhile.  I baked the chicken in the oven with the directions below:

Ingredients:

1 5lb box chicken thighs, thawed

1 C shoyu (soy sauce)

1 C sugar

5 cloves garlic

3 half inch chunks ginger (I used dried)

Mix the shoyu and sugar. Add the garlic and chunks of ginger together in a bowl.  Stir it until the sugar dissolves. Mush the ginger and the garlic cloves with the back of a table knife so that the flavor can comes out of them, before you add them to the sauce. 

Put the chicken thighs (defrosted) in a pan that is deep enough that the juices won't boil over the side, and bake the chicken at 350 degrees, covered, for about 1 hour. Check the chicken to see if it is done - it should be just done. Do not over cook the chicken or it will be tough. If the chicken needs a little more time put it back in the oven and check it again in 15 minutes. The chicken should have turned white and there should be no blood near the bone (if you are using thighs that have bones in them). 

Some people use boneless - skinless thighs, some people like thighs with the skin and bone on. It doesn't matter which type you use, but I think thighs are the best thing to use for shoyu chicken. I also think it is good to cook the chicken a little ahead of time so that it can reabsorb the flavor of the sauce after it has cooked. So if I wanted chicken to be ready to eat at 5pm, I'd stick it in the oven at 3pm so that I would have time to cook it a little longer if needed and also so it could cool in the sauce for a while before serving it.

If you like the taste of a thicker sauce you can take the sauce out of the pan, after the chicken has cooked, and thicken it in a sauce pan with some corn starch and then pour the sauce back on the chicken.

Recipe Source: Benita C, my friend

Picture Source: Kuki's Kookbook