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Hoisin & Ginger-Glazed Chicken & Onions

August 1, 2008

I used Sriracha-Glazed Chicken and Onions over Rice as my starting point; Anna from Cookie Madness recommended it to me. I already knew I liked the combination of onions, chicken, and hoisin, but there were two problems: first, I couldn’t find sriracha (a Thai hot sauce); second, I didn’t want to make it too spicy or no one in my family would have enjoyed it. I was going to just substitute Tabasco, but wound up leaving out the hot sauce altogether. I tasted a tiny bit of heat from the curry powder, whereas my mother-in-law found it fairly spicy as prepared so I’m glad I left the hot sauce out. Sounds like I wound up making Sans Sriracha Chicken & Onions, don’t you think?

I also changed the steps of the recipe a bit. My sister-in-law Lauren makes memorable sauteed onions at her barbecues — she takes her time and lets them cook in a tiny bit of oil for as long as it takes for them to get sticky sweet and caramelized. They are fabulous. I was thinking of those onions as I was getting ready to make this dish, so I took the extra step of cooking the onions Lauren’s way earlier in the day. I then stuck them in the fridge until I was ready to add them into the recipe that evening.

I also mixed all the sauce ingredients together and marinated the chicken pieces in the sauce for a few hours. Then, when I was ready to cook, I dumped the whole bag (plus the onions) into a large saute pan with a lid, and simmered it all for about 20 minutes. I also wound up thickening the sauce at the end with a scant teaspoon of cornstarch, but I think I could have avoided that step if I’d taken the time to let the sauce reduce, uncovered.

I forgot to add the garlic (oops — you should add it) and served it over whole wheat egg noodles, since the boys have not been into rice lately and I was in the mood for an easy dinner. Lauren and her mom really enjoyed it; I thought it was good but it would have been better with more heat (I could have added hot sauce to my own portion, but didn’t think of it at the time). I think the onions make the dish.

Filed under: Poultry

Tags: cooking, curry, dinner, recipe, Sans Sriracha Chicken Onions, sauce, spicy, whole