Huli Huli Chicken

This one's for you, Dad

Years ago I blogged a version of this recipe. I thought it was time to revisit it, and tuck the new and updated tasty grilled chicken instructions into my virtual recipe box. This is a party dish, and the size of the recipe reflects that. What follows will serve between 12-15 people, depending on who shows up and how many leftovers there are.

You can serve it with Mac Salad, rice, coleslaw, or other summertime barbecue sides. Up to you. It’s sticky sweet, salty, savory… everything in one lump of cooked meat. Dad taught me to make this and love it, a byproduct of his teen years in Hawaii. Funny how things propagate outwards.

My recipe is ridiculously complicated for what originated as roadside bbq, which a friend informed me is usually perfumed with diesel exhaust, not that that takes away from it being good, he clarified. I enjoy playing with flavors, using what I have one hand, and that’s why there will always be more than one version in the recipe box. And no exhaust fumes, not even lighter fluid since I never use that

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• 12-14 lbs of chicken (or cut up three roasters), mostly legs and thighs

For the marinade and sauce:

• 3/4 c dark soy sauce

• 3/4 c low-sodium soy sauce

• 1/2 c honey

• 1/2 c mirin

• 1/2 c rice wine vinegar

• 3/4 c brown sugar

• 1 tbsp. sesame oil

• 1/4 c ginger paste

• 1/3 c garlic paste

• 3 Tbsp. Chili paste

• 1/3 c lime juice (reserve zest from at least one lime)

• 1/4 c Seville orange juice (pineapple juice if you can’t get this)

Whisk until the sugar and honey are mostly or completely dissolved into the marinade. Set about a third of this aside, with the grated zest of the lime in it, for later sauce.

Dump the chicken into the marinade in a very large bowl, turning it repeatedly to coat the meat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, excluding as much air as possible, or transfer to ziploc bags. Stash this in the fridge for no less than an hour, overnight if you were thinking ahead. Turn the bags, or mix up the bowl, a couple of times to ensure full coverage. Do not discard the marinade when it’s time to put the chicken on the grill, you will use it to brush the meat when you turn it.

The split-barrel grill my son built for me as his first big welding project.

Huli means turn, and that’s what you’ll do, slathering the marinade on every time you turn it, which I do about every ten minutes. These repeated coats of sauce build up a fantastic sticky coating, while it’s cooking. I always do this on the grill. You probably could do it in the oven, but that’s no fun and will be very sticky and messy to clean up later. I prefer charcoal, but you do you. Over a nice bed of coals, with the rack high enough that the heat’s not too high, cook the chicken until it’s at an internal temperature of 165F, which will take 30-40 minutes. Stop brushing it with the marinade when the last ten minutes on the heat are coming up, about 155 to 160. You want everything to cook on the outside part. You’ll find you have to move the chicken as it cooks, too keep it cooking evenly as the sweet marinade can burn easily. I think this is the origin of the action that gives this bbq it’s name.

In the meantime, simmer down the sauce that you held back until it has thickened up into a syrupy consistency. This will take about ten minutes (just about the amount of time in between turns and coatings of your chicken). You’ll brush this on to the chicken after you remove it from the heat, just as it’s time to serve.

The chicken done to a turn, and the pineapple going on to grill for dessert.

Serve while hot (although it’s good cold the next day if by some means you pull off leftovers) and enjoy!