Description
This Honey & Soy Chicken recipe features succulent skin-on chicken thighs marinated in a flavorful blend of honey, dark soy sauce, lemon juice, tomato ketchup, ginger, garlic, chili flakes, and toasted fennel seeds. The chicken is roasted to a perfect sticky, tender finish with a rich, syrupy sauce, making it an irresistible main dish served best with rice and fresh salad or steamed greens.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Chicken and Marinade
- 8 skin-on chicken thighs (about 1kg)
- 4 tbsp honey
- 4 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 4 tbsp lemon juice
- 4 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 30g ginger, peeled and finely grated
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- ½ tsp red chilli flakes
- 2 tsp fennel seeds, toasted and ground
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
To Serve
- Spring onions
- Rice
- Salad or steamed greens
Instructions
- Score and Season the Chicken: Using a sharp knife, score the chicken thighs twice through the skin to allow flavors to penetrate. Season them with salt and pepper, then transfer to a bowl.
- Prepare the Marinade: Whisk together the honey, dark soy sauce, lemon juice, tomato ketchup, grated ginger, crushed garlic, red chilli flakes, and ground toasted fennel seeds until well combined.
- Marinate the Chicken: Pour the marinade over the chicken in the bowl, ensuring each piece is thoroughly coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours, or ideally overnight to develop deeper flavors.
- Preheat the Oven and Prepare for Roasting: Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan) or gas mark 6. Line a large roasting tin with foil and place it in the oven for 10 minutes to heat up.
- Roast the Chicken Initially: Remove the chicken from the marinade, letting excess drip off, and carefully arrange it in a single layer on the hot roasting tin. Reserve the leftover marinade. Drizzle the sunflower oil over the chicken and roast for 10 minutes.
- Make the Sauce: While the chicken roasts, pour the reserved marinade into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, and cook for 7-10 minutes until it becomes thick and syrupy.
- Combine Juices and Continue Cooking Sauce: Remove the chicken from the oven and pour any juices collected in the roasting tin into the pan with the syrupy sauce. Continue simmering the sauce for another 5 minutes until it thickens to a double cream consistency.
- Finish Roasting the Chicken: Spoon the sticky sauce evenly over the chicken pieces. Return the roasting tin to the oven and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes until the chicken is tender, sticky, and the juices run clear when pierced.
- Garnish and Serve: Slice spring onions lengthwise and scrape a knife along them to create curls for garnish. Scatter the spring onions over the chicken and serve warm or at room temperature alongside rice and salad or steamed greens.
Notes
- For an extra layer of warming spice, substitute 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder for the ground fennel seeds and replace chilli flakes with 2 deseeded and chopped red chillies.
- Leftover cooked chicken can be chopped and scattered over a tortilla wrap with thinly sliced radishes, spring onions, and chopped coriander for a quick meal.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Roasting
- Cuisine: Asian Fusion
Keywords: Honey soy chicken, roasted chicken thighs, sticky chicken, Asian marinade, dinner recipe, easy chicken recipe
