CookingWithGeorgeAndFriends.com

Week 75 Recipe

HULI HULI CHICKEN

The Hawaiian-Style Macaroni Salad featured last week is an excellent compliment to this spicy & yet sweet chicken. I used chicken thighs for grilling because that is my favorite part to work with.

TOOLS • Large Saucepan • Large Bowl • Small Saucepan • Cutting Board • Knife • Grater • Mincer • Tongs • Wooden Spoon • Grill (not shown)   INGREDIENTS Chicken: • 2 qts water • 2 cups soy sauce • 1 tbsp vegetable oil • 6 garlic cloves, minced • 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger • Approx. 8 pounds of your favorite   chicken pieces Glaze:5 • 3 (6 oz) cans pineapple juice • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar • 1/4 cup soy sauce • 1/4 cup ketchup • 1/4 cup rice vinegar • 4 garlic cloves, minced • 2 tbsp grated fresh ginger • 2 tsp Asian chili-garlic sauce • 2 cups wood chips, soaked for   15 minutes

PREPARATION: To brine chicken, combine water and soy sauce in large bowl. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir into soy sauce mixture. Add chicken and refrigerate, covered, for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours. To make the glaze, combine pineapple juice, sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, garlic, ginger and chili-garlic sauce in empty saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until thick and syrupy, appx 20 to 25 minutes. (You should end up with about 1 cup). Prepare the grill. Seal wood chips in foil packet and cut vent holes in top. Place foil directly on hot coals or if using a gas grill, place them over the primary burner. Close the grill to allow wood chips to begin to smoke heavily, about 15 minutes. Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels. Arrange chicken, skin-side up on grill. Do not place directly above the wood chips. Grill, covered, until chicken is well browned on bottom and meat registers 120 degrees, appx 25 to 30 minutes. Flip chicken skin-side down and continue grilling, covered, until skin is well browned and crisp and meat registers 170 degrees, appx 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter, brush with half the glaze. Let rest 5 minutes. Serve, passing the remaining glaze at the table. HINTS: If you don’t like really spicy dishes, only use 1 tsp of the asian-garlic sauce. I could not find this sauce at my local grocers so I picked some up from a local Chinese Restaurant. Don’t let the size of this recipe scare you, the efforts are well worth it.