A great all rounder Asian Marinade that infuses chicken with sweet/savoury flavours. This Asian chicken can be grilled, baked or cooked on the stove! MINIMUM MARINADE TIME: 1 hour (or overnight)
Mix Marinade ingredients together. Add chicken and mix to coat. Marinade in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour or up to overnight.
Heat oil in a large non stick skillet or BBQ over medium high heat. (See notes for other cooking methods) Add chicken and cook until each side is dark golden brown and chicken is cooked through (about 3 minutes each side). Transfer to plate, cover loosely with foil and rest for 3 minutes.
Garnish with chillies, shallots and sesame seeds if desired. Serve with white rice and slices of cucumber.
Notes
1. Substitutions / alternatives: * Chicken - tenderloins is great, breast also works but won't come out as sticky. * Garlic / ginger - 1 tsp garlic / ginger powder (but please try to use fresh, it's much better. Asian cooking doesn't use garlic / ginger powder) * Soy sauce - I use all purpose soy sauce but light or dark also works. Light and Dark Soy Sauce will be labelled as such on the bottle, all purpose just says "soy sauce". I use Kikkoman. And fish sauce could also be used in place of the soy sauce, but reduce to 1 1/2 tbsp (because fish sauce is saltier) * Tomato ketchup - Australian tomato sauce can be used * Oyster sauce - hoisin sauce (but note it has a mild Chinese 5 Spice Powder flavour which is nice) * Chinese cooking wine (aka Shaoxing Cooking Wine) - Asian rice wine used commonly in Asian cooking. Mirin is an excellent alternative. This is the secret ingredient in the marinade! Sub with dry sherry (best option), sake (next best) or marsala. To make it non alcoholic, use 2 tbsp chicken stock/broth PLUS 1 tbsp extra oyster sauce.* Sriracha - swap out with any other chili paste or finely chopped fresh chili or powder. Add a tiny bit (1 tsp or so) of vinegar (white, malt, apple cider), lime or lemon juice (because Sriracha is the "sour" component in this marinade) * Brown sugar - white sugar, honey or maple syrup * Sesame oil - this can be left out.2. This can also be baked in a 180C/350F oven for around 20 minutes or grilled / broiled on high. It's also great made as skewers.3. To make ahead: Place chicken and marinade in a ziplock bag and place in the freezer straight away. Defrost before cooking. The chicken marinades as it freezes / defrosts. Cook per directions. Cooked chicken doesn't freeze that well - the chicken itself is fine but the marinade flavour fades.