Char Siu Chicken

🥘 Ingredients

• ?red food coloring (optional)
  5 drops
• Shaoxing wine (can substitute clear rice wine, dry sherry, or beer)
  1 tbsp
• chicken thighs (bone-in skin-on)
  2 lbs
• dark brown sugar
  2 tbsp
• five spice powder
  1/2 tsp
• garlic (minced)
  2 cloves
• hoisin sauce
  1.5 tbsp
• light soy sauce
  2 tsp
• maltose (can substitute honey or brown rice syrup)
  1 tbsp
• salt
  1 tsp
• sesame oil
  1/2 tsp
• water
  2 tbsp
• white pepper
  1/4 tsp

🍳 Cookware

• baking dish
• heavy duty foil
• saucepan

1. 1

   Trim the excess fat from chicken thighs and discard. Combine dark brown sugar , salt , five spice powder , white pepper , hoisin sauce , Shaoxing wine , light soy sauce , sesame oil , garlic , and ?red food coloring in a bowl to make the marinade (i.e. the BBQ sauce). Rub the chicken with the marinade in a large bowl or baking dish .

   chicken thighs: 2 lbs (bone-in skin-on), dark brown sugar: 2 tbsp, salt: 1 tsp, five spice powder: 1/2 tsp, white pepper: 1/4 tsp, hoisin sauce: 1.5 tbsp, Shaoxing wine: 1 tbsp (can substitute clear rice wine, dry sherry, or beer), light soy sauce: 2 tsp, sesame oil: 1/2 tsp, garlic: 2 cloves (minced), ?red food coloring: 5 drops (optional)
2. 2

   Cover and refrigerate overnight, or at least ⏱️ 480 minutes .
3. 3

   About 2½ hours before you’d like to eat, take the chicken out of the refrigerator to come up to room temperature for even cooking. Preheat your oven to 190°C and set a rack in the center of the oven.
4. 4

   Line a sheet pan with heavy duty foil for easy clean-up, and place a sheet of parchment paper or non-stick foil on top. Evenly space the marinated chicken thighs on the sheet – they should not be touching each other. Reserve any remaining marinade.
5. 5

   Transfer the chicken to your preheated oven, and roast for ⏱️ 30 minutes . Check on it every ⏱️ 15 minutes . If the chicken is starting to scorch or burn, tent it with aluminum foil and/or lower the oven temperature.
6. 6

   While the chicken bakes, make your basting sauce. Pour the excess marinade into a small saucepan . Add water and heat the mixture to a simmer. Add maltose (microwave the maltose for ⏱️ 15 seconds at a time until softened). Mix until the maltose melts into the marinade and turn off the heat.

   water: 2 tbsp, maltose: 1 tbsp (can substitute honey or brown rice syrup)
7. 7

   After ⏱️ 30 minutes , use a brush to baste the chicken with the cooked marinade. Continue roasting for another ⏱️ 5-10 minutes , and check the internal temperature of the chicken using an instant read thermometer. It’s done when it reaches 165°F (74°C) and/or when the juices run clear when the meat is pierced to the bone.
8. 8

   Optionally, give the chicken one last basting and another ⏱️ 1 minute in the oven for that extra char siu crust before serving.