Honey Soy Chicken Marinade (for boneless thighs and breast) (2024)

• ▢ 1.25 - 1.5 kg/ 2.5 - 3 lb skinless boneless chicken thighs OR breast (Note 1)
• ▢ 1 tbsp vegetable oil , for cooking

Honey Soy Marinade Sauce:

• ▢ 1/2 cup soy sauce , all purpose or light (not dark, Note 2)
• ▢ 2/3 cup honey (sub maple syrup)
• ▢ 1/3 cup cider vinegar (or rice vinegar)
• ▢ 1/4 cup Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry (key ingredient, Note 3)
• ▢ 1 tbsp sesame oil , toasted (Note 4)
• ▢ 1 1/2 tbsp garlic , finely minced

Serving Sauce:

• ▢ 1/3 cup water
• ▢ 1 1/2 tsp cornflour/cornstarch

Garnishes (optional):

• ▢ Green onion , finely sliced
• ▢ Sesame seeds

Marinade Sauce:

• Place ingredients in a jug and mix well until honey is completely dissolved.

• Reserve 1/4 cup for Basting, refrigerate. (Note 5)

• Reserve 2/3 cup for Serving Sauce, refrigerate.

• Marinade Chicken: Pour remaining marinade over chicken in a container. Coat chicken thoroughly. Cover, refrigerate 24 to 48 hours (minimum 3 hrs).

Serving Sauce (Makes 1 cup):

• Place reserved sauce in a small saucepan. Mix cornflour and water, then add into saucepan.

• Simmer over medium for 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until it thickens to a syrupy consistency. Set aside and keep warm. (If it gets too thick, just add a bit more water)

Cook:

• Brush BBQ plate or grills with oil and heat to medium high. Or heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

• THIGHS: Place chicken on BBQ. Cook the first side for 2 minutes, then flip and dab with reserved Basting Sauce. Cook for 2 minutes, flip and baste. Then flip/baste every 1 minute for total cook time of ~ 10 minutes or until a thermometer reads 75°C/165°F.

• BREAST: Cook first side 2 minutes, flip, baste. Cook 2 minutes, then flip and baste every 45 sec or so for total cook time of ~8 minutes (internal temp 66°C / 151°F).

• REST: Transfer to serving plate, cover loosely with foil and rest for 5 minutes.

• SERVE chicken garnished with sesame seeds and green onion, with sauce on the side so people can help themselves.

1. Chicken - boneless thigh and breast are my favourite cuts for cooking on the BBQ. Just easier than bone in which requires more attention. For bone in chicken thighs and drumsticks, use medium heat and cook for 20 minutes with the lid down, or until internal temp is 75°C/165°F. Wins take about 12 - 15 minutes.

2. Soy sauce - light or all purpose soy works here. DO NOT use "dark soy sauce" or "sweet soy sauce" - flavour is too intense.

3. Chinese cooking wine - this is the key ingredient that really elevates this marinade and sauce. Essential for sufficient depth of flavour, especially in the sauce. Costs a few dollars for a large bottle at Asian stores, lasts for years. Best sub (in order of preference) - dry sherry, Mirin, cooking sake, chicken stock/broth (use 1/2 cup of stock). Used in practically all cooked Chinese recipes - such as stir fries and noodles.

4. Toasted sesame oil is brown, untoasted is yellow. Toasted is the standard in Australia - stronger sesame flavour.

5. Hygiene note- both the basting and sauce is made using "clean" marinade mixture ie not tainted by raw chicken. For basting, I don't do this for all BBQ recipes, only where we do frequent basting because it doesn't have sufficient time to cook out raw chicken juices (1.5 minutes on BBQ after each baste).

For sauce, you can cook out the raw chicken juices by boiling the residual marinade but it comes out murky. It's just not nice.

6. Storing -excellent recipe to marinate then pop straight into the freezer. Thaw overnight in the fridge during which time it will marinate. Also a good way to divide the recipe up into smaller portions ie make up a big batch in the marinade then separate into smaller portions.

Cook chicken will keep up to 5 days in the fridge. Best reheated in the microwave. Otherwise, covered in the oven at 180C/350F for just 7 minutes (sprinkle the base of the dish with a teeny bit of water to encourage a steamy environment), just until chicken is heated through.

Once sauce is cooked, it will keep 4 to 5 days in the fridge. It will freeze fine but will probably thin out (freezing sometimes does this to sauces thickened with cornflour).

7. Nutrition per serving, assuming all sauce is consumed. I made an educated guess about how much of the marinade is absorbed into the chicken.