If you love Asian food, you will go nuts over this Chinese Chicken! Made with the same Char Siu marinade as the ever popular Chinese Barbecue Pork (Char Siu), this recipe calls for Asian staples you might already have. BBQ it, pan fry, bake or broil/grill it. The smell when this is cooking is outrageous!
Try this with a side of Fried Rice and Asian Slaw, or Asian Mushroom Ramen Noodles!
If you’ve strolled through Chinese neighbourhoods, past Chinese BBQ shops with the bronzed, glistening ducks and Chinese Barbecue Pork hanging from hooks in the window dripping with sticky glaze, then the smell when this hits the hot pan will be familiar.
And even if you’re not familiar with that smell, you will just know, you will know that this is 100% lip smackingly delicious and a total crowd pleaser. 🙂
This Chinese Chicken is the chicken version of Chinese Barbecue Pork. The marinade is slightly adjusted to make it more suitable for chicken – mainly less sugar because there’s more surface area with chicken so I find the pork Char Siu marinade a bit too sweet and also easier to cook on the BBQ/stove without burning the marinade.
And I even added the tiniest drop of red food colouring to give it that warm reddish tinge that Chinese Barbecue Pork is so well known for. (Entirely 100000% utterly and completely optional 🙂 )
And speaking of optional – the skewers are totally optional too. I just used them to do something a bit different because it dawned on me that I had done the Thai Coconut Marinated Chicken recently that would look very similar once cooked. Plus, they are handy for turning the chicken. 🙂
The flavour of this chicken is classic Chinese – it has lovely depth of flavour, it’s sweet and savoury, and a hint of Chinese Five Spice Powder flavour that makes this distinctly Char Siu. This is terrific cooked in the oven or broiled/grilled, but hands down the best way is on the BBQ or stove. That caramelisation that you get on the surface is just gold. GOLD. – Nagi xx
PS If you make this, tell me in the comments below if you agree that the smell when this is cooking is outrageous!!!!
PPS If you haven’t made it yet but you want to, tell me in the comments below if you can tell just by looking at the photos that the smell when this is cooking is outrageous!!!!
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Chinese BBQ Chicken
Ingredients
Marinade:
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp honey
- 1 1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 2 tsp oyster sauce
- 1 ½ tbsp light soy sauce (or all purpose)
- 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder (Note 1)
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil (not critical)
- Few drops red food colouring , optional
Chicken:
- 750 g / 1.5lb chicken thigh fillets , skinless boneless (or breast)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 10 – 12 bamboo skewers , soaked in water for 1 hour (optional)
- Green onions / scallions , finely sliced, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Place Marinade ingredients in a ziplock bag or bowl and mix to combine.
- Add chicken and mix to coat. Marinade for 3 – 24 hours.
- Optional: Cut chicken into bite size or large pieces and thread onto skewers. Use 1 skewer for small pieces, 2 for large, like pictured in post.
- Heat half the oil in a heavy based skillet over medium high heat, or BBQ on medium (if using grill side, brush oil on bars).
- Remove chicken from marinade (RESERVE for basting) and place in the skillet – cook in 2 batches, don’t crowd the pan. Cook for 4 minutes then turn.
- Use the Marinade to baste the cooked side of the chicken. After 3 minutes, turn the chicken over so the basted side is now cooking again – cook for 1 minute.
- Baste the chicken, then turn again and cook for 45 sec – 1 min.
- Transfer chicken to a plate, cover loosely with foil and rest for 5 minutes.
- Serve, garnished with green onions / scallions if using!
Recipe Notes:
Grill/Broil: Preheat to medium high, then cook for 6 – 7 minutes on each side (watch carefully, will get dark brown spots and can burn easily due to sugar in marinade). 4. Nutrition per serving.
Nutrition Information:
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Chinese Chicken recipe video!
The ever popular Char Siu Chinese Barbecue Pork!
LIFE OF DOZER
When I feel sorry for him and let him on the couch, he certainly makes himself comfortable…..
SaveSave
Hi Nagi. I’ve got chicken thighs on my shopping list and now I know what I’m going to do with them. I have all the marinade ingredients on hand already. I think rice and some sugar snaps peas would round out the meal nicely. Dozer looks perfectly content (big surprise there).
I put a big white cover on the chaise part of the lounge, he has all that space to use and he squeezes himself up on the edge of the sheet and gets his fur all over my cushions. What is with that Dorothy????
Hi Nagi. Dozer just wants to be close to his mommy! That’s why I always have at least one of the dogs laying on my feet wherever I am sitting; Gary calls them my slippers. 🙂
It’s winter here so I WISH Dozer would sit on my feet! 😂
Haha I’m marinading pork in the Chinese bbq sauce as I type as well as cooking sweet soy sauce shredded chicken in the slow cooker. I’m having a cooking day! The Char Siu sauce smells amazing, can’t wait to try it out on chicken too!
Could you bring some round? 😂 I’ve been cooking all day but NOTHING FOR DINNER!!!
Haha I think it’ll be gone by the time I come to Sydney in December! (So excited!) I had the sweet soy sauce chicken last night – so good! Char Siu pork tonight! Ahh I think my griddle pan is aluminium and very old and knackered, I’m probably moving it too early too. Thank you! 🙂
Also, sorry, forgot to ask, Nagi how to you get such good stripes on the chicken (and other meats when you cook it on the pan like that? I’ve tried a few times and got faint lines but nowhere near as clear as those!
Don’t apologise Beth! You can ask as many questions as you want 🙂 I use a cast iron griddle pan so it has good heat retention – oh, it’s the one in the video! Then once you put the chicken on, don’t move it until you flip. 🙂 N x
I missed this beautiful chicken on our recent trip to Shanghai! I would have enjoyed it very much. Lip smacking looks like the right way to describe it indeed. Have a terrific week!
I actually don’t even know if this really exists! Probably does, that Char Siu marinade is too good not to use with other proteins 🙂 N x
Oh yes, I can smell that Char Siu smell coming from the pages. Looks so good. I’m making this and putting it in a big rice bowl.
Dozer looks quite content. He’s daisey is cute too.
His modesty daisy…. 🌻🌻🌻🌻