Caramelized Baked Chicken

I make a lot of chicken dishes during the week for my family.  Sometimes I fry them or stir fry them with vegetables, other  times I make chicken curry, and often, I bake them.  I was browsing recipes for different and unique ways to cook chicken wings when I came across this one.  Really good – a nice change from the usual buffalo wings.  Okay, here’s another one of those great recipes for all you chicken lovers.  Caramelized Baked Chicken. 

I’ve made this recipe for several times using chicken wings, chicken legs, chicken breast,  and whole chicken.  I read all the reviews before making this.  One of the reviews mentioned to cook the sauce to thicken it first before adding to the chicken.  I’ve adjusted the recipe to include cornstarch in the sauce to create more ‘caramel’ by simmering (almost boiling) the sauce on the stove for about 10-15 minutes.

The sauce did not really caramelize as I hoped, however,  enough to stick on the chicken to give it great taste and color. And even without the full caramelization of the wings, the flavor turned out great. This worked beautifully. The chicken was tender, but not dry, and the wings were truly ‘sticky’.  You won’t be disappointed.

I prepared steamed white rice and potato wedges on the side with  broccoli and carrot, place the chicken on a serving plate, and served the remaining sauce in a serving bowl.  There was a lot of extra sauce that everyone drizzled over the rice. We all thought it was finger licking good.  My daughter had seconds!

Caramelized Baked Chicken (adapted from allrecipes)

For recipe in Indonesian click HERE

Ingredients:

·         3 pounds chicken wings or whole chicken

·         2 tablespoons olive oil

·         ½ cup soy sauce

·         2 tablespoons ketchup

·         ¾ cup honey

·         ½ teaspoon Tabasco

·         3 cloves garlic, minced

·         2 tablespoon cornstarch

·         Salt and pepper to taste

·         1 tablespoon sesame seeds

·         Scallion for garnish, minced

Directions:

1.       Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)

2.       Place chicken in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

3.       Mix together the oil, soy sauce, ketchup, honey, garlic, Tabasco, and cornstarch in a small saucepan.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat, and let simmer for 15 minutes.

4.       Pour the sauce over the chicken, sprinkle with sesame seeds.

5.       Bake for one hour, or until sauce is caramelized.

6.       Transfer to a bowl and drizzle with remaining sauce and sesame seeds. Garnish with minced scallion.

Bahasa Indonesia

Bahan:

·         1.000-1.350 gram sayap ayam atau paha ayam atau ayam utuh

·         2 sdm minyak zaitun

·         ½ cup kecap asin

·         2 sdm saus tomat

·         ¾ cup madu

·         ½ sdt Tabasco

·         3 siung bawng putih, cincang halus

·         2 sdm maizena, larutkan dengan sedikit air

·         Garam dan merica

·         1 sdm wijen, sangrai

·         Bawang daun untuk hiasan

Cara:

1.       Panaskan oven dengan suhu 375 derajat F (190 derajat C)

2.       Letakkan ayam pada pinggan tahan panas. Lumuri dengan garam dan merica sedikit saja.

3.       Campur minyak zaitun, kecap asin, saus tomat, madu, bawang putih, Tabasco, dan maizena dalam panci kecil. Didihkan, lalu kecilkan api, dan rebus sampai saus mengental sekitar 10-15 menit.

4.       Tuang saus di atas ayam, aduk-aduk hingga merata, taburi dengan wijen.

5.       Panggang selama 45 menit sampai 1 jam, atau sampai saus membentuk karamel.

6.       Pindahkan ke dalam wadah, tuang sisa saus dan taburi wijen. Beri taburan bawang daun.