There’s something about the combination of Soy Sauce and Honey that pair so well together, think salty/umami/sweet. Combine that with some chicken thighs and crispy skin and you have the perfect marriage of flavour.
In this recipe we teach you how to make an incredibly quick weekday dinner, or Friday takeaway extravaganza that should take only half an hour. We show you how to make a really easy soy and honey based sauce and how to get the crispiest chicken skin imaginable.
How Do you Get Crispy Chicken Skin?
Crispy chicken skin is achieved in three very important stages.
- Dry excess moisture from the chicken skin and salt generously.
- Pan fry skin side down until golden in a little oil (trying not to move the chicken in the pan too much during this cooking time). This should only take about 5 minutes, as we are not trying to cook the chicken here.
- Finish the cooking process by baking in the oven skin side up in the same pan you used on the hob. Therefore, it’s essential to use a pan/pot that is both hob and oven friendly.
If you follow these steps you will have perfect crispy skin every time.
How Do you make the Sauce?
This is a very simple sauce that can take only 1-2 minutes to make with a bit of practice. The steps are as follows:
- Mix together the soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger etc.. all into one jug with a whisk or spoon.
- Once mixed, add the cornflour slurry (not just straight cornflour, as it will go lumpy) and combine well.
- Add to a hot pan and simmer until desired thickness.
- With cornflour or any flour thickening agent, make sure you simmer for at least a couple minutes to take away the flour taste.
- Modulate the thickness with water. If getting too thick add a couple tablespoons of cold water. Alternatively if too watery, either simmer for a bit longer to try and thicken or take off the heat, and add a little more cornflour slurry. Don’t worry, if it’s too thick after this you can always add a little more water. However, with every addition of water we are also watering down the sauce so do be mindful.
Video Tutorial
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The Recipe
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Soy and Honey Baked Chicken with Crispy Skin
Equipment
- Oven Proof & Hob proof pan / dish i.e. cast iron pan, casserole dish
- Whisk
- Measuring Jug
Ingredients
- 4 Skin on, Bone in Chicken Thighs
- 30 ml Light Soy Sauce
- 30 ml Dark Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
- 2 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 1 thumb size Ginger, minced/grated
- 1 heaped tsp Cornflour + 50ml water mixed into a slurry
- Maldon Salt
- 1 tbsp Groundnut Oil any high smoke point oil works
- 2 Pinches Sesame Seeds (to garnish)
- 1 Spring Onion, peeled and sliced thin (to garnish)
Instructions
The Sauce
- Whisk together the light soy, dark soy, oyster sauce, honey, garlic, ginger and cornflour slurry.
Cooking the Chicken
- Pre heat the oven to 200C (fan assisted).
- Generously salt the chicken on the skin and on the bottom.
- Put the pan/pot on a medium high heat, then add the oil.
- Place the chicken in the pan skin side down and cook until golden and cripsyTop Tip - When the chicken goes into the pan, try not to move it until it's ready. This makes the skin super crispy.
- When the skin is golden, turn them over so they are skin side up. Pour in the soy and honey sauce, stir well (whilst avoiding the chicken) and bring to the boil (should be seconds). Top Tip - it should be a runny sauce here. If too thick add a tbsp or two of water, as the oven cooking will thicken.
- Place in the oven uncovered for 15 minutes or until the thickest part of the meat is 80C of above. Top Tip - Now is the time to start cooking your rice and vegetable sides (i.e. steamed brocoli or stir fried pak choi).
- Remove from the oven once cooked to perfection and place on a trivet.
Serving
- Serve the thighs on a bed of fluffy rice and pour the sauce all over. Serve greens on the side if you want to as well.
- Top with sesame seeds and thinly sliced spring onion.
Notes
- Salt the skin well to ensure its super crispy.
- When the chicken goes into the pan, try not to move it until it's ready. This makes the skin super crispy.
- When adding the sauce it should be a runny sauce here. If too thick add a tbsp of two of water, as the oven cooking will thicken.
- When the chicken goes into the oven, get the rice and greens on to make sure they all finish at the same time.
