Honey, soy and garlic chicken marinade
A sweet and salty marinade of soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger and lime that turns into a sticky glaze on chicken thighs, breasts, drumsticks or wings.
- CoalsGas
- No fire needed
- Prep
- 10 min
- On the fire
- 0 min
- Plan ahead
- 1 to 8 hours marinating
- Serves
- makes about 200 ml (3/4 cup), enough for 1 kg (2.2 lb) chicken
- Done at
- 165°F (74°C)
Ingredients
Method
- Warm the honey for 10 seconds if it is thick. Stir it with the soy sauce, garlic, ginger, lime juice, both oils and pepper until smooth.
- Pour 3 tablespoons into a clean jar and keep it in the fridge for glazing later.
- Put the chicken in a glass dish or zip-seal bag and pour over the rest. Press the air out of the bag, or cover the dish, and turn the pieces so they are coated.
- Refrigerate and turn the chicken once or twice. Give boneless thighs and breasts 1 to 4 hours, and drumsticks, wings and bone-in thighs 4 to 8 hours. Soy and lime make the meat salty and soft if it sits past 12 hours.
- Take the chicken out 20 minutes before cooking. Lift it from the marinade, let it drip, and pat the surface dry with paper towel so the honey does not scorch before the meat is cooked.
- Cook over medium coals, where you can hold your hand at grid height for 5 to 6 seconds. Boneless thighs take 5 to 7 minutes a side and breasts 6 to 8 minutes a side. Bone-in pieces and wings need 25 to 35 minutes, turning often.
- Honey burns fast, so keep a cooler zone with fewer coals and move the chicken there as soon as it darkens.
- Brush on the clean glaze from the jar in the last 5 minutes. If you want to use the marinade the raw chicken sat in, boil it in a small pot for 2 to 3 minutes first.
- Rest the chicken for 5 minutes, then scatter over the sesame seeds and spring onions.
Done when: the chicken is glossy and dark amber in patches, and a thermometer in the thickest part reads 74°C (165°F).
Tips
- It suits other meat too. Pork neck chops or pork belly strips: 4 to 8 hours, 12 to 15 minutes on medium coals, to 63°C (145°F). Salmon or yellowtail: 30 minutes only, 8 to 10 minutes on medium coals. Prawns: 20 minutes, 2 to 3 minutes a side on hot coals.
- For more heat, add 1 chopped red chilli or 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes. For a thicker glaze, simmer the jar portion for 2 minutes until it coats a spoon.
- The marinade keeps for 5 days in a closed jar in the fridge before any meat touches it.
Soy sauce reached South African kitchens partly through the Chinese community that has lived in the country since the late 1800s, and honey and soy has since become one of the most common flavours on supermarket chicken. Making it at home takes ten minutes and gives a cleaner, less sugary result. The honey is what makes it sticky, so cook with a two-zone fire and keep the chicken moving. It also works on spiced chicken thighs in place of the tomato baste.
Source
Adapted from Honey Soy Marinade (for Chicken) at Real Food Whole Life and Honey Soy Grilled Chicken at Cooks Well With Others.