Soy-braised chicken for a crowd
This is a great dish to bring to a potluck (and I do…often!). But even if you’re serving it to a small family, the leftovers keep beautifully and you can eat it for a few days.
When you’re cooking for a crowd, it’s important not to cut corners. Here, we make a puree with the soy sauce to thicken it and make it irresistible spooned over rice. Trimming some of the excess fat off the chicken thighs is an important step to prevent the sauce from being too greasy. Doing some of the prep work in advance helps to decrease active cooking time, which can be cut to about 10 minutes at the least! Leeks are not a traditional part of this dish, but I love cooking with leeks and they add such a wonderful aroma to the dish that I never braise without them now! But if they are hard to find, it would not compromise the dish all that much; Any combination of aromatics (onion, garlic, shallot, leek) will sautee beautifully and add wonderful flavors to the dish. That’s the thing about Korean cooking - it’s very flexible.
For even more recipes and tips, follow me at @TheAsianAllergyMom on Instagram.
Soy-braised chicken for a crowd
Serves 10+
Ingredients
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 large onion, chopped
8 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 an apple, peeled, cored, rough chop
3 TBS honey or granulated/brown sugar
2 TBS neutral oil
1 leek, root and dark green part removed and white and light green part chopped and rinsed
2.5 - 3.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, rinsed and chopped into large 1-inch chunks. These can be chopped in advance and stored in an airtight container covered in water in the refrigerator.
Optional:
A drizzle of sesame oil
A sprinkle of sesame seeds
Chopped scallions
Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F with wire rack set in the center of the oven.
Blend soy sauce, water, half of the chopped onion, garlic cloves, apple and honey/sugar with an immersion blender, blender or food processor. The sauce can be made in advance and refrigerated for a few hours if you wish.
In a Dutch oven over medium heat on the stove, heat the oil. Add leeks and remaining chopped onion. Saute until soft, about 5 minutes.
Add sauce. Stir to combine.
Arrange chicken thighs in sauce in a single layer.
Drain potato chunks if stored in water. Place potato chunks on top of chicken and spread out evenly, pressing down with a spoon so that the potato also makes contact with the sauce.
Cover and bring to a boil on the stovetop.
Place covered Dutch oven into the oven and braise for 1.5 - 2 hours.
Remove Dutch oven from oven and stir chicken and potatoes. Serve over rice and add optional garnishes.
Slow cooker instructions:
After completing step 2, add all ingredients into the slow cooker and figure out what temperature setting is close to 300 degrees and cook for 1.5-2 hours. That’s it!
Allergens: soy, wheat
For wheat-free, use tamari soy sauce
For soy-free, use coconut aminos
