.huli huli chicken.

When we lived in Hawaii, we would be driving somewhere and see signs for Huli Huli Chicken. Curious, we stopped once. It was a school selling whole chickens as a fundraiser -- which they had a lot of. Not long before we transferred off the island, our church ladies put together a recipe book and YESSSSS this recipe was in there! I was thrilled!

Huli Huli Chicken is essentially Hawaiian BBQ Chicken. The sauce is sweet and gingery and plain ol' delicious. Here's how to make it.

In a bowl, mix together:

1/3 c. ketchup
1/3 c. soy sauce (they call it shoyu over there)
1/2 c. brown sugar
about 2 Tbsp grated gingerroot (peel the gingerroot with a potato peeler and use the fine side of your cheese grater to do this)
2 cloves garlic, crushed

NOTE:I usually double this recipe so I have enough to marinate the chicken and have more to baste while it grills.

Spoon some of the sauce on your chicken pieces. Flip pieces over to coat all sides. Cover dish with saran and put in the fridge to marinate overnight.

The key to grilling chicken on the bbq, is to grill over LOW HEAT. If you try grilling any hotter, it won't be cooked through, and the outside will be burned. Since we have a sweet sauce on this chicken, we want it to carmalize.. NOT burn. So keep those coals cool. Put your chicken on the grill and spoon sauce on the top. Put the lid down and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Turn the chicken over. Coat the top side with some more sauce. Put lid down and cook 5 minutes on that side. Keep repeating this until the sauce is all gone and the chicken is cooked through. (don't cut into the chicken. When the flesh is firm, it's done. If it's HARD -- it's going to be overcooked and really dry.)

Enjoy and Aloha!

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_12gp5p4jcw