Huli Huli Chicken - Alana Kysar’s

 Ingredients

 ½ cup ketchup

 ½ cup soy sauce

 ½ cup packed brown sugar

 ¼ cup rice vinegar

 1 ginger

 2 garlic

 3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs

How to Make It

In a large bowl, whisk together the ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, ginger, and garlic until well combined. Reserve 1⁄3 cup of the mixture for later. To the remaining mixture, add the chicken and stir to evenly coat it. You can transfer this mixture with the chicken to a gallon- size ziplock bag or simply cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours, turning the chicken at least once.

After marinating the chicken, oil your grill grates well. Heat the grill to medium and grill the chicken for 5 to 7 minutes on each side, until cooked through, basting it with the reserved marinade after you turn it. Serve immediately.

It’s adapted from Alana Kysar’s cookbook, “Aloha Kitchen: Recipes from Hawai‘i.” The recipe is written for the grill, but Margaux makes it with boneless thighs in the oven, baking them at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. “They love the salty-sweetness of it,” she said of her daughters, “and the way the edges caramelize in the oven.” That’s a really good endorsement.

This easy recipe from the book is Kysar’s version of Huli Huli Chicken, which she says is a favorite menu item for summer fund-raising events on the islands. Kysar says “huli huli” translates to “turn, turn”; it’s a style of barbecue chicken that’s grilled and basted on a spit.

She cautions that the sweet marinade tends to burn a bit, so it’s best used on an outside grill rather than a grill pan on the stove.

Local-Style BBQ Chicken

Serves 6 to 8

1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup soy sauce (shoyu)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup rice vinegar
One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated
3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

In a large bowl, whisk together the ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice vinegar, ginger and garlic until well combined. Reserve 1/3 cup of the mixture for later. To the remaining mixture, add the chicken and stir to evenly coat it. You can transfer this mixture with the chicken to a gallon-size zip-top bag or simply cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours, turning the chicken at least once.

After marinating the chicken, oil your grill grates well. Heat the grill to medium and grill the chicken for 5 to 7 minutes on each side until cooked through, basting it with the reserved marinade after you turn it.