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Hawaiian Huli Huli Chicken

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5 from 1 vote

Huli Huli Chicken

I am so proud to introduce this next blogger. We both grew up in Norfolk, Virginia. We were both orchestra geeks in high school and we were both Navy brats. Although, I will thoroughly admit that she was a far better violinist than myself.
Please meet my good friend, Patricia. She writes for her blog, Ground Control to Major Mom. Patricia is a woman of many talents. First of all (and most importantly) she is the Mom to two very amazing little boys. Patricia is also a meteorologist in the Air Force Reserves. And now you know where she got her blog title from. She is also very happily married to a fellow meteorologist who is currently on Active Duty in the United States Air Force. I admire Patricia in so many ways. She volunteered to go on deployment to the Middle East to serve her country. She went on active duty for several months, was away from her little boys and devoted husband because she wanted to do her part for our country. So everyone, please say hello to Patricia.

Hello Country Cook Friends! I’m so honored to be invited to guest-post on Brandie’s awesome blog! I hail from Brandie’s hometown of Norfolk, VA. She and I crossed paths in high school among orchestra circles. We’ve been swapping Facebook and blog comments about our cooking (among other topics) ever since!I don’t remember that much in my life before about age 4. I don’t know why, I just don’t. Just the intermittent here-and-there memory. My family was living in Hawaii when I was 4-years-old. My Dad, who was in the Navy, was stationed at this small base northwest of Honolulu. My first solid memories were from Hawaii. And here’s one of them: Huli Huli chicken fundraisers. I vaguely remember driving up to a large dirt/gravel parking lot, perhaps at a church or a high school. And you’d see row-after-row of rotisserie-like skewers, all covered with chickens. I also have vague memories of large metal trash cans to hold the marinade (this was in the 70s, well before plastic trash cans, apparently), and folks using cotton mops to slop on the marinade on the skewers.Today, I wanted to share with you a recipe that always brings back the memories I have of Hawaii. I’ve had chicken made with commercially purchased “Huli Huli Chicken Sauce” and that just seemed wrong. Too syrupy, from what I remember. If you do a web search for “huli huli chicken recipe” you’ll come up with a very wide variety of recipes. I see ginger, sugar and garlic as a common thread throughout, but from there you’ll see varied other ingredients: limes, chiles, honey, ketchup, white wine, etc. Here’s the recipe that my family has used over the years:

First, let me introduce the ingredients:

There’s “Sugar in the Raw” in the orange sugar dish. Maybe because it’s really-truly from Hawaii, I am using it instead of plain white sugar. I feel more authentic that way…
Note the whole chicken…let me warn you, I’m about to show pictures of a chicken dismemberment, so if you’re adverse to such images, click away now! Let’s disassemble the chicken. When I’m motivated enough, I choose to break up a whole chicken rather than buy the parts separately…it’s cheaper and I can take advantage of ALL of the chicken for broth, soup, etc. The first thing I did was take my kitchen shears and CUT down both sides of the spine.
I can take the spine/back part and toss it into my freezer bag that already contains two other chicken backs…I’ll probably make up some broth this week for recipes later.
I cut the remaining chicken into 2 breasts, 2 leg quarters and 2 wings. Now I chop the garlic and grate the ginger. I freeze my ginger, so grating it on the Microplane (BEST KITCHEN TOOL EVAH!!!) is easy. Place it all in a bowl and then stir in 3/4 cup of soy sauce.
Now that we have everything — garlic, ginger, sugar, white wine and soy sauce (I omit the MSG), it’s time to stir stir stir. I try to dissolve as much of the sugar as I can. Now I take a 9×13 baking dish and line it with a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. Add the chicken and pour in the marinade:

And here’s what you get:

Since the chicken is taking up so much space in the bag, a little marinade will go a long way in the zip-top baggie. I will allow this to sit in my fridge for TWO DAYS, flipping the bag about every 12 hours. Two nights later, we cooked the marinated chicken. The cooking is the tough part. Because of the sugar content of the marinade, you have to be VERY careful how to cook up the parts. Low low low, for 25 minutes on each side, then you can turn up the heat at the end to give a nice crispness to the skin.
Another option is to slow bake the chicken first, then throw it on the grill. In this I don’t have a rigid cooking time, or even a rigid cooking temperature. Let’s call it 350F for 1 hour. Then give it about 5 minutes on each side on a NASA-hot grill. Baste it with more marinade, if you wish.
DO NOT be alarmed if you cut into your Huli Huli chicken and you see pink nearest the surface…this is the marinade penetrating the meat! Trust me, it’s a good thing.
So long as it isn’t pink next to the bones, you’re golden!
Ingredients:
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine
2 tbsp. granulated sugar (I like Sugar in the Raw)
1 1/2 tsp. freshly grated ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
3 lbs. of chicken parts: breasts, leg quarters, wings (whatever your preference)
Directions:
Combine all ingredients except the chicken parts. Mix thoroughly until the sugar is well-dissolved. Marinate the chicken parts in a zip-top bag for at least 2 hours. Overnight is best.
Bake the chicken at 350F for 1 hour, marinating occasionally. You can then sear the chicken on a hot grill for 5-8 minutes on each side OR grill the chicken over low heat for 45-60 minutes turning the pieces halfway through cooking time, marinating occasionally.
Enjoy!

Hawaiian Huli Huli Chicken

An authentic Hawaiian Huli Huli Chicken recipe that is marinated in a delicious soy sauce marinade with fresh ginger and garlic. Grilled for the best taste!
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Huli Huli Chicken
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 hours
Servings: 6
Calories: 276kcal
Author: Brandie @ The Country Cook

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar (I like Sugar in the Raw)
  • 1 1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
  • 1 clove fresh garlic minced
  • 3 lbs of chicken parts: breasts, leg quarters, wings (whatever your preference)

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients except the chicken parts. Mix thoroughly until the sugar is well-dissolved. Marinate the chicken parts in a zip-top bag for at least 2 hours. Overnight is best.

To make in the oven:

  • Bake the chicken at 350F for 1 hour, basting occasionally.

To make on a grill:

  • Grill the chicken over low heat for 45-60 minutes turning the pieces halfway through cooking time, basting occasionally.

Nutrition

Calories: 276kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 81mg | Sodium: 1696mg | Potassium: 274mg | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 3% | Vitamin C: 2.3% | Calcium: 1.8% | Iron: 9.3%
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Holly says

    I am printing this recipe as soon as Im done commenting!! lol This sounds heavenly! And so great to meet one of your friends Bran! : )

    Reply

  2. Sandra says

    This looks amazingly delicious!!!! Nice to meet you Patricia, great recipe!!! Brandy one more amazing guest post!!!!Thank you for sharing it with us!!!!

    Reply

  4. Veronica Gantley says

    Nice to meet you Patrica. I am from Norfolk Va also. I still live here.I have all the ingredients in my pantry I will make it this weekend. Brandie, the tater salad was so yummy! I finished it off for lunch today.

    Reply

  5. Maryann Goldman says

    I met Patricia when she lived in Apex, NC. Great to see her guest post and this wonderful recipe!

    Reply

  6. Pretend Chef says

    Any recipe for grilling I'm all about right now. We're about to hit the 100 degree mark here in Houston and I'm not excited about putting anything in the oven. The marinade for the chicken sounds amazing and it looks even better. What a yummy looking meal Patricia. Thank you!

    Reply

  9. The Farmers Wife says

    This chicken looks amazing! I love new recipes like this, and I know my guys would love it. It is SO nice to meet you Patricia, and thank you for all you've done for our Country!

    Thanks for introducing us to your friend Brandie!! Awesome post!

    Reply

  11. Lizzy says

    Brandie, thanks for sharing another magnificent blogger with us all!

    Patricia, this chicken looks fabulous…and I may save it for company we're having in a couple weeks. YUM!

    Reply

  13. Annie's Dish says

    Thanks for the intro to Major Mom (anyone who's blog name is a David Bowie reference is a winner in my book!) I've made huli huli chicken before and while it was good it was way complicated. This recipe looks much simpler while just as delicious!

    Reply

  15. southernlady64 says

    This chicken recipe looks and sounds wonderful. I must try it. I am getting a new grill tomorrow and this will be a great recipe to try. Thanks for sharing. It's always nice to meet a new blogger, too.

    Reply

  16. Brooks at Cakewalker says

    Hi Patricia, your post made me smile! I knew I liked you when you mentioned Oahu (I've got family in Kailua)and the Fiesta sugar pot sealed the deal! But the chicken is finger lickin'! Thank you for sharing this recipe and serving up a side of life. Nice to meet you!

    Reply

  17. Laurie says

    Love this recipe. Huli is one of those wonderful smoky-sweet foods that take me back to 'small-kid time' in Hawaii. Wrapped in newspaper, or later, in the plastic bag 🙂

    Thanks to major mom for posting.

    Reply

  19. Leigh Ann says

    I made this and substituted a little pineapple juice and brown sugar for the regular sugar. Marinating it several hours gave it such good flavor! Delicious and will make again.

    I baked and finished on the grill, but next time will try only grilling. (After boiling/reducing the marinade for safety so that I can baste with it. 🙂

    Reply

  20. RL Maiden says


    I saw this recipe and cracked up. This is almost exactly the recipe that my family has been using for teriyaki for the past 50 + years! It isvery good, far superior to what is sold today. We got it from my hanai uncle, a Japanese master chef. If you use it for thinly sliced beef, don’t marinate for more than 4 hours. Also– for the alcohol, you can sub out any white or rice wine; I have also successfully subbed rum with great results.

    Reply

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