Cook's Country Huli Huli Chicken

Cook's Country Huli Huli Chicken

"Sire, if your Majesty so wishes and permits, I should feel myself privileged to have served up to him every single day a chicken in some new guise." MARQUIS DE CUSSY. Chamberlain to Napoleon I.




I have been looking through my files and photographs and realized that the best of what I had to share this week was chicken (and one very awesome short rib recipe). While I do generally like to post a mix of things I figured that one really cannot have enough really good chicken recipes in their repetoire, oui? These are all in the "family favorites" category and I have been making all but one of them for years so I know the recipes work and are truly blog worthy. The newest edition to the collection is from Cook's Country Magazine and is called Huli Huli Chicken (Huli means 'Turn'). It is a Hawaiian version of Barbecued Chicken that is smoked with mesquite (I've successfully used hickory as well). I made the recipe for Hawaiian Macaroni Salad that appeared with the Huli Huli Chicken recipe and it was outstanding. Pay attention to the method that is used and any macaroni salad recipe will be the better for it. You do need to plan just a little bit ahead because the chicken needs to marinate in a brine for 8 hours. The brine and the glaze can be made up to 3 days ahead but do not brine chicken for more than 8 hours or it will become salty. The Hawaiian Macaroni Salad can be made up to 2 days before. One additional note: I have done this with just thighs and legs and also with all thighs instead of the half chickens called for and they were wonderful but your grilling times will be much shorter by as much as half depending on your grill. I also found that grilling slices of pineapple made a nice addition to this meal.


The original recipe was created in 1955 by a man named Ernest Morgado of Pacific Poultry who made up his own variation of teriyaki chicken and it became a mainstay in Hawaii. The chicken was cooked between two grills that had to be flipped over. "Huli" means "turn" and thus it was named.




Recipe: Huli Huli Chicken
From Cook's Country Magazine, June 2009

Chicken:
2 quarts water
2 cups oy sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
4 split chicken halves (about 8 pounds total)


Glaze:
3 (6-ounce) cans pineapple juice
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 teaspoons Asian chili-garlic sauce


2 cups mesquite (or hickory) wood chips, soaked for 15 minutes


1. Brine Chicken. Combine water and soy in a large bowl. Heat oil in large sauce pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir into soy sauce  mixture. Add chicken and refrigerate, covered, for at least 1 hour or up to 8.


2. Make Glaze. Combine pineapple juice, sugar, soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, garlic, ginger and chili-garlic sauce in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer until thick and syrupy (you should have about 1 cup), 20-25 minutes.


3. Prep Grill. Seal wood chips in foil packet and cut vent holes in top. Open bottom vents on grill. Light about 75 coals. When coals are covered with a fine gray ash, spread evenly over the bottom of the grill. Arrange foil packet directly on coals. Set cooking grate in place and heat, covered with lid vent open halfway, until wood chips begin to smoke heavily, about 5 minutes. (For gas grill, place foil packet directly on primary burner. Heat all burners on high, covered, until wood chips begin to smoke heavily, about 15 minutes. Turn all burners to medium-low.) Scrape and oil the grate.


4. Grill Chicken. Remove chicken from the brine and pat dry with paper towels. Arrange skin side up on grill (do not place chicken directly above foil packet). Grill, covered, until chicken is well browned on bottom and meat registers 120 degrees, 25-30 minutes. Flip chicken skin side down and continue to grill, covered, until skin is well browned and crisp and thigh meat reaches 170 to 175 degrees, 20-25 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to platter, brush with half of the glaze, and let rest 5 minutes. Serve, passing remaining glaze at table.


As I have mentioned it is the method that is used to make this macaroni salad that I find so intriguing and will use for any macaroni/pasta salad containing mayonaise. It goes against all we have learned to overcook the macaroni to any degree of doneness past al dente, doesn't it? However what happens here is pretty cool. The overcooked pasta is now like a "sponge" and it first soaks up the vinegar then soaks up the first application of dressing and has now magically (to me anyway) filled up with all of these flavors and is no longer mushy. Then a smaller second dressing is added to make it creamy. You know how if you make macaroni salad ahead of time you quite often have to add more mayonaise before serving? Not if you do it this way. We ate leftover salad over the course of a week and I never had to remoisten it! Cool huh!?! These things excite me ;). I added green peas because we like them in our macaroni salad but they are not part of the original recipe. Enjoy!


As I  mentioned above, it is the method that is used to make this macaroni salad that I find so intriguing and will use for any macaroni/pasta salad containing mayonaise. It goes against all we have learned to overcook the macaroni to any degree of doneness past al dente, doesn't it? However what happens here is pretty cool. The overcooked pasta is now like a "sponge" and it first soaks up the vinegar then soaks up the first application of dressing and has now magically (to me anyway) filled up with all of these flavors and is no longer mushy. Then a smaller second dressing is added to make it creamy. You know how if you make macaroni salad ahead of time you quite often have to add more mayonaise before serving? Not if you do it this way. We ate leftover salad over the course of a week and I never had to remoisten it! Cool huh!?! These things excite me ;). I added green peas because we like them in our macaroni salad but they are not part of the original recipe. Enjoy!

Recipe: Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
Cook's Country Magazine, June 2009
Note: Low-fat milk or mayonaise will make the dressing too thin.
Serves 8-10
"Macaroni Salad is an integral part of what's known as a "plate lunch," Hawaiian's version of diner food: one big scoop macaroni, two big scoops sticky white rice, plus a big portion of a satisfying protein like huli huli chicken. Plate lunches can be found at fund-raisers, church picnics, and beach parking lot trucks throughout the Islands."


Ingredients
2 cups whole milk
s cups mayonaise
1 tablespoon brown sugar
salt and pepper
1 pound elbow macaroni
1/2 cup cider vinegar
4 scallions, sliced thin
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1 celery rib, chopped fine


1. Make Dressing. Whisk 1-1/2 cups milk, 1 cup mayonnaise, brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons black pepper in a bowl.


2. Cook Pasta. Bring 4 quarts water to a boil in large pot. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and pasta and cook until very soft, about 15 minutes. Drain pasta and return to pot. Add vinegar and toss until absorbed. Transfer to a bowl. Cool pasta 10 minutes,then stir in dressing until pasta is well coated. Cool completely.


3. Make Salad. Add scallions, carrot, celery, remaining 1/2 cup milk and remaining 1 cup of mayonaise to pasta mixture and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 2 days. Serve.