Huli Huli Chicken
By Diane UngerPublished on July 31, 2012
Time
2 hours
Yield
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients
Chicken
2 quarts water 2 cups soy sauce 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 6 garlic cloves, minced1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 4 chicken, split halves (about 8 pounds total) (see note)Glaze
3 (6-ounce) cans pineapple juice ¼ cup packed light brown sugar ¼ cup soy sauce ¼ cup ketchup ¼ cup unseasoned rice vinegar 4 garlic cloves, minced2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger 2 teaspoons Asian chili-garlic sauce 2 cups wood chips (see related Key to Bold Flavor), soaked for 15 minutesBefore You Begin
Split chicken halves are whole chickens that have been split in two through the breastbone. Buy them at the market or see below for instructions on how to prepare them yourself.
Instructions
- BRINE CHICKEN Combine water and soy sauce in large bowl. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir into soy sauce mixture. Add chicken and refrigerate, covered, for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours.
- MAKE GLAZE Combine pineapple juice, sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and chili-garlic sauce in empty saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until thick and syrupy (you should have about 1 cup), 20 to 25 minutes.
- PREP GRILL Seal wood chips in foil packet and cut vent holes in top. Open bottom vents on grill. Light about 75 coals. When coals are covered with fine gray ash, spread evenly over bottom of grill. Arrange foil packet directly on coals. Set cooking grate in place and heat, covered with lid vent open halfway, until wood chips begin to smoke heavily, about 5 minutes. (For gas grill, place foil packet directly on primary burner. Heat all burners on high, covered, until wood chips begin to smoke heavily, about 15 minutes. Turn all burners to medium-low.) Scrape and oil cooking grate.
- GRILL CHICKEN Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels. Arrange chicken skin-side up on grill (do not place chicken directly above foil packet). Grill, covered, until chicken is well browned on bottom and meat registers 120 degrees, 25 to 30 minutes. Flip chicken skin-side down and continue to grill, covered, until skin is well browned and crisp and thigh meat registers 170 to 175 degrees, 20 to 25 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to platter, brush with half of glaze, and let rest 5 minutes. Serve, passing remaining glaze at table.
- Both the brine and the glaze can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Do not brine the chicken for longer than 8 hours or it will become too salty.
make ahead
Time
2 hoursYield
Serves 4 to 6Ingredients
Chicken
Glaze
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Chicken
Glaze
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Chicken
Glaze
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Traditional huli huli chicken is continually basted with a sticky-sweet sauce and “huli"-ed, which means “turned" in Hawaiian. We wanted to find a more hands-off approach to cooking this sweet, smoky, burnished bird. For the sauce, we developed a version with soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic, chili-garlic sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, and lots and lots of pineapple juice—reduced until it was thick, glossy, and sweet. To mimic a Hawaiian rotisserie, we used a moderate number of coals spread in a single layer over the entire grill. The direct heat rendered the fat and crisped the skin, but the chicken was far enough from the coals to avoid burning. Most huli huli chicken recipes instruct cooks to marinate the chicken in the sauce, but with so much sugar, it burned every time we grilled the chicken. Our solution was to use only soy sauce, water, and sautéed garlic and ginger as a brine. We grilled the chicken skin side up to render the fat and then turned it skin side down to finish cooking and to crisp the skin (just one turn sufficed).
Before You Begin
Split chicken halves are whole chickens that have been split in two through the breastbone. Buy them at the market or see below for instructions on how to prepare them yourself.
Instructions
- BRINE CHICKEN Combine water and soy sauce in large bowl. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir into soy sauce mixture. Add chicken and refrigerate, covered, for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours.
- MAKE GLAZE Combine pineapple juice, sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, garlic, ginger, and chili-garlic sauce in empty saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until thick and syrupy (you should have about 1 cup), 20 to 25 minutes.
- PREP GRILL Seal wood chips in foil packet and cut vent holes in top. Open bottom vents on grill. Light about 75 coals. When coals are covered with fine gray ash, spread evenly over bottom of grill. Arrange foil packet directly on coals. Set cooking grate in place and heat, covered with lid vent open halfway, until wood chips begin to smoke heavily, about 5 minutes. (For gas grill, place foil packet directly on primary burner. Heat all burners on high, covered, until wood chips begin to smoke heavily, about 15 minutes. Turn all burners to medium-low.) Scrape and oil cooking grate.
- GRILL CHICKEN Remove chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels. Arrange chicken skin-side up on grill (do not place chicken directly above foil packet). Grill, covered, until chicken is well browned on bottom and meat registers 120 degrees, 25 to 30 minutes. Flip chicken skin-side down and continue to grill, covered, until skin is well browned and crisp and thigh meat registers 170 to 175 degrees, 20 to 25 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to platter, brush with half of glaze, and let rest 5 minutes. Serve, passing remaining glaze at table.
- Both the brine and the glaze can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Do not brine the chicken for longer than 8 hours or it will become too salty.
make ahead
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