Soy and Honey Chicken

Gah, I just found out that you can add new categories. That might be very very useful, but I don't think any of you would appreciate getting 70 emails saying "Ihsan has updated her blog!" just so I can update everything. Two for today is bad enough (I didn't manage to put in Hadi's dinner yesterday). So I'll leave that well alone.

Anyway, due to a slight miscommunication, Justin defrosted the chicken very very late today. But, luckily, we have a microwave! (Call me sakai, but we had no microwave last year :P) In fact, Justin was so inspired that he decided to cook with the microwave! He even had a recipe book for cooking with microwaves. I have no idea where he got that, and I shall not ask.

Now, I've never been a fan of microwaves. They overcook things easily (leading to tough tasteless meat), and often taste quite bland. So again, I wasn't sure on what to think for tonights dinner. But my housemates seem to insist on surprising me!

What you need:
Chicken pieces (we used thighs)
Honey (1 tablespoon)
Soy sauce (1 tablespoon)
Butter (30 g)
- all, again, to taste. the brackets give the amounts given in the recipe

What you do:

1. Combine the butter, honey and soy sauce in a small microwave safe bowl. Cook on 100% power for 1 minute.
2. Brush the mixture all over the chicken. Place the chicken skin side down in a microwave safe bowl. Cook on 100% power for about 10 minutes, basting occasionally with the mixture.
3. Turn the chicken over, and cook for another 10 minutes on 70% power.
4. Stand chicken briefly, before serving.

Since the recipe was actually using a whole chicken, the times are just approximately what we used. Better to be too little than too much, you can always heat it some more, but nothing can save oversooked chicken.

Anyway, again, this recipe was surprisingly tasty, if a bit too bland. The butter didn't quite go with the soy sauce, but it wasn't anything major. We actually used margarine (I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!) but I think butter would have been way too buttery. The main complaint it got was that it was oily. Very very oily. Didn't stop them from dipping the chicken in the resulting gravy, but they complained anyway. Sigh.

I think this would have been better if it was roasted, ins tead of microwaved. It did get a nice glossy sheen, but if it was at least finished in the oven, it would have looked better overall. And perhaps if Justin actually basted the chicken (or maybe marinated it?) the flavour would have much improved. The flavour was good, just not strong enough.

I think in the future, replacing the butter would be a very good idea. It really did not blend in well with the honey and particularly the soy sauce. Maybe with a few drops of sesame oil instead. Make it more Oriental. Roasting it is actually easier (if a bit slower) than microwaving it as long as you marinated the chicken beforehand, as you don't have to pay much attention to the chicken until its done. Unless you want to baste it... But most people don't bother. Pity.

Quote of the day: Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch.