Thursday, November 29, 2007

In The Kitchen: Simple Sticky Chicken


Probably one of the more popular recipes on this blog, and even among my friends when I talk to them about cooking, is this recipe for Sticky Chicken. It's a recipe I learned from my younger sister when I first started cooking years ago. And through the years, I've practiced the most difficult part, the caramelizing of the sauce to make it thick, goey, and sticky. This isn't a recipe that's quick to make, but it is definitely simple. Just a few ingredients, just a few easy steps, and in the end you'll have a dish your friends will oooh and aaah over at the dinner table. Plus get all sticky fingers from eating it. Enjoy!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Chef Ben,
This recipe looks great. Question: How do you keep the sauce from burning while you're reducing it?

-- David

Single Guy Ben said...

Yeah, the sauce is the tricky part, but after a few tries you'll start to recognize when it's at that caramelization stage that's perfect to create that sticky look.

No. 1 tip is to be patient. It takes a good 30 to 40 minutes sometimes to get the sauce thick, like making caramel takes a long time. So in the beginning you might be tempted to put the heat on medium high or high to speed it along, but that's how it'll turn black before it'll turn thick. So you have to make sure the temperature is medium or something close to that to let the sauce bubble but not boil over. Then it's basically just watching it occasionally to make sure it does not overcook. You might stir it now and then with a wooden spoon, and that's how you can see it progressing. Each time you stir, if the sauce starts to stick more to the spoon, you know you're getting close.

A cheater's way to make the sauce faster is to add a bit more sugar. Sugar is the key ingredient to create the caramel-like sticky sauce. But sometimes I think this makes the chicken too sweet for my taste. But if you don't mind your food sweeter, then addding a bit more sugar will help. Good luck!

Carroll said...

Woo! That's the recipe that "found you" for me. And there you are all smooth and professional sounding on YouTube!! Nice going, Single Guy :-) I'm thinking a Food Network show should be just around the corner.

Anonymous said...

I'm like Carroll, this is the dish that started me cooking from food blogs and following this blog!