A sweet and warming marinade for chicken and pork.
Mechanic
A ratio-based marinade where “1” equals ¼ cup (60 ml). Doubling or tripling scales cleanly. The marinade finishes as a reduction glaze: boil the remainder down until thick and sticky while the meat roasts.
Ingredients
Ratio: 1 = 60 ml / ¼ cup
- 1 part soy sauce
- 1 part oyster sauce
- 1 part sweet soy sauce (or hoisin in a pinch)
- 1 part honey (or maple syrup)
- 2 parts brown sugar
- ⅓ part five-spice powder
- ⅙ part white pepper
- 1 part Ginger/garlic paste
- ½ part Shaoxing rice wine
- 2–4 ml red food colouring, not scaled by the ratio (optional)
Method
Whisk all ingredients together. Coat meat thoroughly.
Marinate in the fridge for 2–24 hours. Longer is better for bone-in pieces.
Roast at 200°C (400°F) until the centre reads 65°C for white meat or 85°C for dark meat. Turn the pieces if they brown too quickly.
While the meat roasts, pour the leftover marinade into a small saucepan. It has held raw meat, so bring it to a full boil, then simmer until thick, glossy, and reduced by about half. Brush it over the meat in the last few minutes of cooking, or serve it as a dipping sauce.
Rest the meat 5 minutes before slicing; for white meat at 65°C, the rest is the safety hold.
To serve
Over jasmine rice with stir-fried greens. Also good sliced over noodles.
Notes
- Tested on small boneless chicken thighs. Good result.
- Without food colouring, the meat is brown rather than the classic red; no flavour difference.