I love checking out the supermarkets just before Pesach to see what new products are KFP for the year. This year, I was very excited to see that sweet chili sauce was kosher for Pesach (kitnoyot). So for those of you who do eat kitniyot on Pesach, I came up with a great recipe for crispy chicken in a sweet Asian sauce that you will want to make all year round. I made it last night for supper and my kids couldn’t stop eating it.
I based the method on Bill Granger’s sticky wings recipe I posted a while back. Back then, I promised to experiment with other pieces of the chicken, so this time, I used legs and thighs as well. The result: This wonderful method, which cuts out tons of fat, works just as well with other parts of the chicken.
Kosher for Pesach Sticky Asian Chicken
SWEET ASIAN CHICKEN PIECES
Ingredients
6 chicken thighs
6 chicken legs
About 10 chicken wings
2-3 tablespoons oil
4 cloves of garlic roughly chopped
1 small green chili finely chopped
About 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
1 cup sweet chili sauce
½ cup apple juice
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (during the year, you can use rice wine vinegar instead)
½ teaspoon salt (during the year use ¼ cup soy sauce instead of the salt)
How to do it
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Line a large roasting pan with baking paper and place the chicken pieces evenly on the tray. Roast chicken for 40-50 minutes, until it’s golden in color. Remove the chicken and transfer the pieces onto a clean tray lined with baking paper. (You can also just pour the fat off and reuse the pan, but I found it easier to just transfer the chicken into a clean pan and let the fat cool for easier disposal – never pour hot oil down the sink as it clogs the drain.)
3. While the chicken is cooking, in a saucepan, heat the oil and cook the garlic, ginger and chili it’s all soft (about 2-3 minutes). Add the sweet chili sauce, apple juice, vinegar and salt. Stir together, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and cook over medium heat for about 2-3 minutes.
4. Pour the sauce over the chicken pieces, turning them to make sure they’re all coated, and return to the oven. Cook for another 30-40 minutes or until the chicken pieces start getting dark and sticky. Turn the chicken every 10-15 minutes for even color.
Serves about 6-8. You can serve with extra sweet chili sauce if the pieces are a little dry.
This looks delish!
Thanks Julie. I love it when removing fat improves taste. It doesn’t happen too much, but it’s great when it works well.