AMAZING OVEN-ROASTED SWEET CHILI CHICKEN THIGHS WITH A TOUCH OF SPICINESS
PERFECT BALANCE BETWEEN SWEET AND SPICY
Chicken in sweet chili sauce with touches of spiciness is an addictive recipe.
The delicate balance of tastes between the sweet-sour taste of the sweet chili sauce and the honey, the spiciness of the fresh chili, and the soy sauce’s saltiness create the umami. A mystery taste that is created from the harmony of tastes.
CHEF'S TIP FOR SUCCESS
The sauce of the chicken contains fluids and sugars. As the cooking progresses, the sauce’s liquids evaporate, and the sugar starts to caramelize, making the sauce thicker.
We want the sauce to be as thick as possible when the dish is ready to get a nice glaze to the chicken. However, we need to be careful and not let the sugar over caramelize and burn.
The chef’s tip for the dish’s success is to use a small amount of water to control the caramelization process of the sauce and add a bit of water to dilute the sauce if necessary.
HOW HOT? AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE!
In this recipe, I use one fresh red chili pepper to add a little spiciness to the dish that kids can eat easily.
If you like your chicken spicier, you can increase the amount of chili or use other peppers to your liking. If you don’t like your food spicy, you can remove the chili pepper from the recipe but remember that the sweet chili sauce is also a bit spicy.
EVERY RECIPE IS A BASE FOR CHANGE
Chicken in sweet chili sauce with touches of spiciness recipe is a great basic recipe that you can use to create other recipes. All you need to do is try.
The secret is in the balance – the basic recipe for chicken in sweet chili sauce with touches of spiciness is based on the delicate balance of tastes between the sweet-sour taste of the sweet chili sauce and the honey, the spiciness of the fresh chili, and the saltiness of the soy sauce. You can play with the tastes and add tastes to the recipe as long as you maintain the balance between them.
EVERY RECIPE IS A BASE FOR CHANGE
Instead of using honey, use date honey, maple syrup, brown sugar, Coca-Cola (each cup with about 4 tbsp of sugar), and jam.
Try to replace the sweet chili sauce or add additional sourness to the recipe using vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, or ketchup.
You can add or change the spiciness by adding more chili, using different hot peppers, hot paprika, Arisa, Tabasco, sriracha, etc. add a little each time and taste. You don’t want to find out you over-spiced your dish.
You can use smoked paprika or liquid smoke for a smoky taste.
Start with the basic recipe and advance from there.
Chicken in sweet chili sauce with touches of spiciness
Chicken in sweet chili sauce with touches of spiciness
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs
- 1.5 cups sweet chili sauce
- 0.5 cup honey
- 0.5 cup soy sauce
- 3 tbsp oil
- 6 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 hot red chili pepper seeded and thinly sliced
- 0.5 cup water add more if needed
- 1 tsp minced ginger
Instructions
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Heat oven to 180C/356F.
Cut the chili pepper on its length to half. discard the seed and chop it into thin slices.
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In a bowl mix the sweet chili sauce, the honey, the soy sauce, the oil, the garlic, the chili, the ginger and the water.
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Place the chicken in a baking tray.
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Pour the sauce on the chicken. you can use a kitchen brush or a spoon to coat the chicken with the sauce.
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Bake the chicken in the oven for 70 minutes.
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After 20 minutes of baking turn the chicken over and coat it with the sauce that is in the baking tray.
After another 20 minutes of baking turn the chicken over and coat it again with the sauce that is in the baking tray. as the cooking progress, we will need to turn the chicken over more frequently.
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After 45 - 50 minutes of cooking we need to start checking on our sauce.
We want the sauce to get as thick as we can but not burn. the thicker the sauce gets, it will give the chicken a better glaze.
The best place to check on the sauce is at the edges of the baking tray. if the sauce looks dark and bubbling heavy and it looks like it's about to burn, add a few tablespoons of water add stir the whole sauce in the baking tray. it is important to go over the edges of the tray and scrape the sauce that got stuck on them.
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In the last 20 minutes of cooking, we need to check on the sauce and turn the chicken every 5 minutes. each time we turn the chicken over we give it a good glazing with the sauce.
In the last 10 minutes, we turn the chicken every 3 minutes and give it a good glaze with the sauce. The more time we do the process of turning and glazing of the chicken, we will get a nicer looking glaze on the chicken.
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After 70 minutes of baking, we take the chicken out of the oven and give it a last glaze.
The chicken goes excellent with white or yellow rice (see our guide for the perfect rice), or with couscous.
