I don’t know how or why or when this happened but I’ve become a total sucker for homemade Asian-inspired dishes.  I’ve always loved soy sauce and often would eat plain white rice and soy sauce when I was a vegetarian.  Now that I’ve discovered other heavy-hitting flavors, like ginger, chili sauce, peanut sauce, and sesame oil, I’ve realized what I’ve been missing out on.  This Asian-Glazed Chicken combines some of those flavors for a slightly sweet, slightly spicy,  and overall delicious chicken dish.  Chicken breasts are marinated in a mixture of rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, chile paste, and garlic and baked until perfect.  The marinade, which is later cooked and used as a basting sauce, is sweet, tart, spicy, and garlicky.  As usual, I used chicken breasts but this recipe uses chicken thighs so use whichever you prefer.  I served this with some Asian-inspired green beans which I’ll have for you later this week!

The ingredients:

Combine vinegar, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, chile paste, and garlic, stirring until honey dissolves.

Pour vinegar mixture into a zip-top plastic bag and add chicken.  Marinate in the refrigerator for one hour, turning occasionally.  Remove chicken from bag, reserving marinade.

Place reserved marinade in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil.  Cook for 2 minutes or until sauce has thickened and is syrupy.  

Place chicken on a rack coated with cooking spray inside a baking sheet.  Baste chicken with reserved marinade and sprinkle evenly with salt.  Bake at 425° for 10 minutes and baste again. 

Bake an additional 8-10 minutes until fully cooked or the internal temperature reads 165°F on a cooking thermometer.  Discard remaining marinade.  (If using chicken thighs, follow directions on recipe for cooking process.)   

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:  None

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine