Slathered in the most incredible Chinese Plum Sauce, these Sticky Chickenย Drumsticks are absolutely and utterly irresistible. Whether youโreย 7 or 70 โ and everyone in between!ย Super simple to makeย with just a handful of ingredients, plus it doesnโt even need marinating time!
Todayโs recipe is brought into this world with many thanks to Fountain Sauces, without whom these gloriously sticky chicken drumsticks with the most incredible Chinese Plum Sauce glazeย might not have been discovered and we may have forever been deprived.
Some days, nothing goes right.
Iโll have 3 recipe fails, Iโll be unhappyย with all the photos, and a certain giant furry dog will bump the tripod while filming a video, resulting in 5 minutes footage ofย an empty (dirty)ย kitchen counter. Iโll stamp my foot (yes I do โ go ahead and judge me), flop on the couch, huff and puff with annoyance. Most especially becauseย I know dinner that night will not be enjoyable (becauseย a recipe fail has to be seriously inedible to throw it out or donate it to said giant furry dog).
And other days, everything just works.ย Such was the day when I went to create a recipe using Fountain Plum Sauce. Usually when Iย create a recipe from scratch for the first time, I wonโt plan to photograph it because I assume the recipe will need tweaking. But the moment I took these sticky, sticky drumsticks out of the oven, they were everything I envisioned them to be.
The fragrant smell of plums. Sweet with a touch of tartness. Golden brown and oh-so-sticky.ย And that moment when you grab one of those sticky chicken drumsticks (knife and fork?? Whatโs that?) and you bite into the tender juicy chicken flesh and get that glaze all over your mouth faceโฆ
Now THAT is the kind of food Iโm all about!!!
So what did I do? Well, this will come as no surprise to regular readers and my friends who know me so wellโฆ. in my excitement (and not wanting to lose my mojo), I dashed out to the store, purchased more drumsticks and made it again. Just to make sure โ and to take photos.
Yup, just as good as Batch #1.
Any guesses what I did next? Yup, another mad store dash.ย Batch #3, coming right up. Triple testing and for the recipe video.
Oh boy. The homeless guy at the dog park had this 3 days in a row. As did I. No complaints from either party. Or Dozer.ย โ Nagi xx
More chicken drumstick recipes
Greek Chickenย โ ideal made with drumsticks instead of thighs
Baked Chicken and Rice โ make this with drumsticks instead of bone in thighs!
Serve these on the side!
Steamed Jasmine rice or Coconut Rice
Crunchy Asian Slaw on the side โย great all rounder Asian salad that goes with all Asian foods
Asian Sesame Dressing for any fresh saladย or steamed vegetables
Asian Mushroom Ramen Noodlesย โ another great all rounder!
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Sticky Chicken Drumsticks in Chinese Plum Sauce
Ingredients
- 1.2kg / 2.4lb large chicken drumsticks (8 drumsticks)
Plum Marinade / Glaze
- 3/4 cup / 185ml Fountain Plum Sauce (Note 1)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar (can reduce to 1/4 cup)
- 1/4 cup soy sauce (all purpose or light, not dark soy sauce)
- 2 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp ginger, minced
- 1/2 tsp Chinese Five Spice Powder (Note 2)
Garnish (optional)
- Sesame seeds
- Finely chopped scallions
Instructions
- Place Marinade ingredients in a ziplock bag (or bowl) and mix. Add chicken and massage to coat in the Marinade. Refrigerate for 1 hour (see Note 3 for skipping this).
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (all types).
- Line a tray with baking paper / parchment paper (or foil then spray with oil).
- Transfer chicken to tray, shaking off excess marinade. RESERVE Marinade.
Baking & Basting (Total bake time: 50 min)
- Bake chicken for 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven. Spoon / slather / brush with reserve marinade (generously!) (Note 4). Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and TURN chicken. Baste again using tray juices and reserved marinade. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and baste again (very generously!) using tray juices and reserved marinade. Bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove chicken from oven and scrape/brush tray juices onto chicken (donโt waste free flavour!).
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds and shallots/scallions if using. I served it with rice and steamed broccolini.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
ย WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Sticky Chicken Drumsticks in Chinese Plum Sauce recipe video!
LIFE OF DOZER
Did someone say STICKY CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS????
Todayโs recipe is brought into this world with many thanks toย Fountain Sauces,ย makers of the Fountain Plum Sauce which is the key ingredient in the gorgeous sticky Chinese Plum Sauce glaze!
Love it! We used homemade plum sauce and added ground schezuan peppercorns and dried large red chilli for spice. Love your recipes Nagi! Youโre my goto site for cooking ideas.
Sounds delicious Rich!!! I love a bit of spice! N x
Hi Nagi
Fabulous recipes and a gorgeous dog!
I made this recipe using pork spare ribs and subbed in my homemade plum sauce. Amazing! Next time I will reduce the brown sugar tho as it was a tad too sweet for me but the others had no complaints ๐
Keep up the great work!
Iโm so glad you enjoyed it Karleen โ I canโt comment on the sweetness if you changed an ingredient but if youโre using homemade plum sauce, just adjust the sugar to taste ๐ N x
dear Nagi, thank you so so much for sharing your delish recipes with us,, you are so blessed with amazing talent, love your sweet warm smile, im sure you are this way from withing. God bless you
Oh that you so much Rita, thatโs lovely to hear โค๏ธ N x
I do not have any drumsticks but I have chicken wings what modifications would I have to make to cook this recipe with the wings
Thanks
Hi Robert, wings take about 45-50 minutes to bake, Iโd cook the same way just baste a few times while in the oven ๐
I have been eating vegan in 2019 but Nagi continues to come through with the goods, I made this with tofu instead of chicken and it was great!
Oh thatโs great to hear Lee, I wouldnโt have thought of tofu!
On my face, on my hands, this was great! Another winner!
Wooot!!!!
Delicious. I probably cook from your blog a couple of times a week. Your recipes are a lifesaver. This recipe was a winner and I will be making again.
Hi, the recipe looks yummy so I am thinking about making this with ribs which have been sitting in the freezer for quite a while. Is there anything you would recommend to change (except the marinating time and baking time, which both obviously should be longer for the ribs) to achieve the best result? Thanks a lot!
Oooh! It would be fabulous with ribs! I would add extra liquid into a pan and cover with foil to get the ribs nice and tender!
So I used lamb ribs, substituted garlic for 2 spring onions and added juice from half of orange. Marinated overnight, baked covered with foil for 2 hours. Then I removed the foil, brushed with reserved marinade and baked for 20 min. I wanted to repeat this step few times as written in the recipe but unfortunately all the marinade in the tray completely burned in those 20 min so I had to take it out from the oven and remove the ribs off the tray immediately. Thanks God, it did not affect the taste of the ribs at all. I reduced the rest of reserved marinade and used it as sauce. Wonderful recipe, thanks for sharing!
Hi Nagi, these chicken drumsticks not only look yummy, they also taste yummy. I have cooked these dishes twice recently and loved the taste of Chicken Drumsticks in Chinese Plum Sauce. I am also fond of Soy Sauce Chicken, the recipe of which I have found on Asian Inspirations site. Thank you anyway for sharing the recipe.
So great to hear Emily!! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed this โ N x
This is so yummy! I threw in some wings as I had them. Great cold the next day too.
I LOVE hearing that Harry! Thanks so much for letting me know! N xx
WOMAN!!! This is genius! I usually hate food blogs and recipes. Great with Ckn thighs too!!! Husband says throw it into 2 week rotation. You got/get me out of my dinner rut. Thank you!
Ba ha ha! You CRACK ME UP! N x
Hi Nagi, does the skin on your chicken legs come trimmed? Where I live (pacific northwest) the skin covers the whole leg. The chicken itself was deeeelicious, but the skin could be better. Should I trim the skin so it only covers the meat as yours appears, broil it at the end maybe, or bake on a rack instead? Thoughts? Thank you it was yummy!
Hi May! It does sound like your drumsticks are cut differently so yes trim the fat! N x
Another winner thank you, my woolies at palm beach didnโt have the plum sauce you suggested so I used master food sweet plum marinade still delicious but I will look out for the suggested one, again thank you โบ๏ธ
Love hearing that Linda! Thanks for sharing your feedback! N x โค๏ธ
This was just heaven on a plate! The only problem was โ we finished eating it and came back to Earth!! Thankyou!!!
Thatโs so terrific John! Thanks for letting me know! N xx โค๏ธ
I randomly bought a bottle of plum sauce and found this recipe to make my chicken. Iโm about to try it now!
Hope you love it!
Hi Nagi,
Wondering if the chicken can marinade overnight (instead of just for an hour)?
Thank you.
Gosh YES!
Thanks Nagi โบ
This was delicious- so full of flavor and sticky goodness. Iโm only sorry we donโt have more leftovers!
Fantastic! ๐๐ป Thanks for letting me know Lauren! N xx
Making this tonight using bone-in skin-on chicken thighs. Canโt wait to try it. Also serving your ham and cheese pastry bites with puff pastry while we play cards. I guess itโs a Nagi night.
*Beaming like a fool*
Hi Nagi I have just found your site whilst looking for a flat bread recipie wow I canโt wait to try soo many recipes. My husband has serious seafood allergy so have to be very carefull eating out I love all Asian food but never go to Chinese or Thai restaurants . I can now cook for myself using your vegetarian Charlie Sauce recipie. Will keep you posted ps have you ever tried any uk plum sauces?
Hi Carol, thanks for your lovely message! Regarding Charlie, please note it has OYSTER SAUCE in it!!! Switch it out for Hoisin ๐ I havenโt tried UK plum sauces but any standard sauce from the supermarket should be fine! Itโs pretty mainstream nowadays! N xx
I made this one day last week and we just devoured it. I think that sauce would be spectacular on baby back pork ribs, too. Will try it out soon.
WHOOT! So pleased to hear that Sandra, thank you for letting me know! N xx