hoisin sauce chicken

The other day, I posted about finding hoisin sauce at the gourmet supermarket. This is what the bottle looks like--just in case you were wondering.

I decided to make a dish that my mother would sometimes make for our Sunday dinner get-togethers.

She would sometimes bake ribs and sometimes chicken thighs with this marinade.

Since I couldn't find ribs, I decided to try making this dish with chicken wings. I didn't have her exact recipe, but found a similar one in a cookbook that I did have. It came out almost like hers. And the aroma that filled the kitchen was mouth-watering!

Because the chicken would have strong flavors, I served it with a warm salad of zucchini, shiitake, asparagus, red onion and tomato, seasoned with just salt, pepper and some olive oil.

Be sure to have lots of rice on hand, you'll want to pour some of the gravy onto it! (at least that's my favorite way to eat this dish...)

Here's the recipe: Hoisin Baby Back Ribs from the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort Ohana Cookbook

5 lbs. baby back ribs
1 (2 inch) piece fresh ginger, sliced + 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 T. sake (rice wine)
Cilantro for garnish

Cut racks into individual ribs or, if you prefer, 3 or 4 rib sections.
Place in a large pot and cover with water.
Add slices of ginger.
Boil gently for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Drain ribs and discard ginger.
Combine sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, grated ginger, garlic and sake.
Marinate the cooked ribs in this mixture for 4 to 5 hours in the refrigerator.
Preheat broiler.
Place ribs in a roasting pan and broil for 15 minutes, turning, if necessary.
Ribs can be put on the grill just to glaze.
Garnish with sprigs of cilantro.
Serves a crowd.

Notes: For chicken, I didn't do the boiling part of the recipe, instead I just marinated the chicken overnight. Also, I cut the sauce portions in half, because there are only 2 of us. I baked 10 chicken wings in a 325F(170C) oven for 30 minutes then under the broiler for 20 minutes.

TIP: For a simple way to marinate, I usually put everything into a ziploc bag with a tray under it and turn the bag over and kind of massage it every so often--the tray is there just in case the marinade drips out, saves cleaning up the refrig if it should spill!

Enjoy!