Sticky Chicken Recipe

Do you run down a list of ingredients and know at an instant that the recipe is a keeper?  I feel like this could become one of my culinary strengths.  When I spotted the Sticky Chicken Recipe on The Green Turnip blog, I knew it was a winner.   I’m thrilled to be sharing not only the recipe but a little about Jessy, the author and the wonderful life experiences she shares on her blog.

Meet Jessy

I stumbled upon Jessy’s blog on Facebook when her mother shared her start.  You know, kind of like what you all do for me on the interwebs.  Well, Jessy is the daughter of a grade school and high school friend of my husband.  She started the blog in 2016 to share stories surrounding her travels in Japan and her journey to become a Japanese Vegetable Sommelier.  Sounds interesting, doesn’t it.   Click to read The Green Turnip About Page.  For me, reading about her travels in Japan was like reliving a trip Tom, and I took to Japan in 2007.  One of the many lessons I brought back with me and of course it has something to do with food, was how in Japan nothing goes to waste.  You see, every part of a vegetable is used.  Stems, ends, leaves; nothing is discarded.  Brilliant!  I remember eating a bowl of soup and being amazed at how a carrot or a celery stalk is used in its entirety.  My soup making immediately changed for the better.  The trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I’ll never forget how amazed our hosts were at the amount of food a 5’7″ American woman could eat.  I tasted and experienced as much as I possibly could.

What’s A Japanese Vegetable Sommelier?

Jessy likes to refer to it as a Japanese Vegetable Expert.  I’m sure you’ve heard of a wine sommelier, well a Japanese Vegetable Sommelier is equivalent to a wine sommelier.  Once certified, you’re classification is  ‘having expert knowledge of fruit and vegetable characteristics and the best way to eat them.’  That may sound simple, but Jessy studied, cooked, tested, and then studied even more – all in the Japanese language.   You’ll be happy to know that she is the first American Junior Vegetable Sommelier.  Aren’t you proud of her?  What a great accomplishment.  She is currently working on a Ph.D. in cultural psychology and is heading back to Japan.  This girl is on the move!  You can read her post on what’s involved in the certification HERE. 

Sticky Chicken Recipe

Is there a secret ingredient?  Not really, but when you combine orange, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, red pepper and soy sauce, you get the secret ingredient. The flavors come together perfectly!   When you read the recipe below you will notice it calls for 20 pieces of chicken.  Don’t be alarmed. It’s easy to scale back the sauce and cut down the number of chicken pieces.  I’m always looking for great marinades and this particular recipe can also be used with pork.  Our pork marinade listed in my Cabbage and Noodles post also includes lots of garlic and soy sauce which are two great ingredients forming the perfect base for a multitude of marinades.

Easy Assembly

The assembly is quick and easy.  The sauce ingredients are mixed together and poured over the chicken.  Just that easy.   I like to use bone-in pieces of chicken and I usually remove the skin from about half of the pieces.  I grew up in a family where cleaning meat off a bone was almost like an art.  Not kidding.   When I make this recipe, I usually send Tom up to our local Chinese restaurant to get a large order of white rice.  This Sticky Chicken Recipe is the best on top of rice!

A big part of Jessy’s blog has been cooking her way through the Japanese cookbook, Tsukurioki Salda, which translates to “make now and store salads.”  It was a great way to learn about Japanese vegetables, and it was perfect for her “make now and eat later” meal prep routine.  Just that concept could be a post of its own, so I’m including a link to her post explaining her Sunday evening ritual of meal prepping for her work week.   (Make Now & Eat Later) 

WOW!  Aren’t you proud of Jessy and her accomplishments?  I love supporting young people in their endeavors, and I hope you’ll take some time to read her posts.  The recipe is delicious, and I believe Jessy when she says it’s “the last chicken recipe you will ever need”!  I hope you’ve enjoyed the post and you consider making the recipe real soon.

Thanks for stopping by,    Rose

Sticky Chicken Recipe

 

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This Sticky Chicken Recipe is from Jessy at thegreenturnip.com. It's easy, quick and any part of the chicken can be used. The sauce is a delicious blend of flavors, making it hard to pick a star ingredient. They are perfect together. The marinade is also great with pork. YUM!

Author: Rose at sockbox10.com

Recipe type: Dinner

Serves: varies

Ingredients

• 1 cup soy sauce (I use low-sodium soy sauce)
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• Juice from one orange
• 1.5 - 2" chunk of fresh ginger (peeled and chopped)
• 4-5 tablespoons of chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoons of crushed red pepper ( I used a little less)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 20 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or whatever cut you prefer (the chicken used in the post were bone in thighs with skin. I removed the skin on about half the thighs)
• Feel free to cut the recipe in half.
• The sauce is perfect for marinading other meats.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Arrange the chicken in a foil-lined large baking dish.
3. Mix the sauce ingredients.
4. Pour the sauce over the chicken.
5. Cook one hour.
6. Turn chicken halfway through cooking time.

3.5.3226