Almost 2 years ago my friend, Cynthia, offered to bring me a meal when I was 40+ weeks pregnant with baby 3. I hadn't ever thought to bring someone a meal when they were late in their pregnancy. I had only thought to do that after the baby was born. But she was on to something. I was HUGE, my back hurt and making dinner was very low on my priority list. So she brought my family a big pot of this soy sauce chicken. We were all smitten! It was seriously delicious! It was the most tender, flavorful chicken I had ever had. And it was seriously appreciated late in my pregnancy. She deserves some kind of awesome friend award!
The next day I emailed her thanking her for the amazing meal and requested the recipe. She kindly shared it and has agreed to let me share it with you! She's a real friend! :)
Needless to say, we've been enjoying this chicken dish ever since. 2 years and counting this has hit the dinner table at least monthly. I love a lot of things about this meal. Here are a few reasons:
1) It's super tasty! That is my main reason for loving any food. But really, this chicken is loaded with flavor.
2) It's tender and moist. I seriously, with a passion, HATE dry grainy chicken. This is not that way at all. It's fall apart tender and I go nuts for that kind of chicken.
3) It's super quick to make in an deep dish electric skillet or deep dish stove top (like 30 minutes and dinner (and this side of sesame noodles and some steamed veggies) can be made and ready to serve. I love quick, easy, yummy meals!
4) You can also make it in the crock pot (4-6 hours on low and wah-lah). The sauce is so quick to mix up (we're talking 5 minutes or less) and then you add some chicken and let it simmer away. It's almost too easy! I have made it all these ways and it works great.
There really are so many reasons to love this meal. I mentioned 2 weeks ago when I posted the Sesame Noodles that we'd had some requests for quick meals that can be made ahead or in a jiffy. This is another one of those. Check out our labels for "Quick" and "20-Mintue Meal" and "30-Minute Meal" These labels will continue to grow as we share more, so keep tabs on them.
Enjoy!
-Lu
Soy Sauce Chicken
Ingredients:
½ cup soy sauce
1-1 ⅓ cup water
3 tablespoons brown sugar
4 cloves of garlic, minced or 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
½ tablespoon fresh ginger, grated or 1 teaspoon ginger powder
2-4 lbs skinless chicken (we prefer chicken thighs, although drumsticks and breasts work well too)
Directions:
Mix soy sauce, water, brown sugar, garlic and ginger together in the bottom of an electric deep-dish skillet, deep-dish stove-top skillet or 4 quart crock pot. This makes up the sauce for the chicken. Heat the sauce and let sugar dissolve and then add the chicken. Cover it and let it simmer for 30-35 minutes on the stove or in the electric skillet (about 300 degrees for the skillet) or let is cook in the crock pot on low for 4-6 hours. Flip the chicken over about half way through so both sides get nice and soaked in the soy sauce mixture. If the mixture starts to look at all dry, add more water. Check temperature to make sure the chicken is done before serving, should be at least 165 degrees F. Serve warm.
We enjoy eating this with the sesame noodle recipe on our blog (or shred this chicken and add it to the noodles) or some steamed rice and veggies.
Recipe Source:
lightly adapted from my good friend, Cynthia T.
