Huli Huli Chicken
Chicken thighs marinated in pineapple juice, soy sauce and ginger, then grilled for 45 minutes and turned and basted until sticky.
Photograph credit: Cooking Some Huli Huli Chicken (4869400106) by Anthony Quintano from Honolulu, HI, United States · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Turn it, baste it, turn it again. Huli huli means "turn turn" in Hawaiian, and that is the method: the chicken is turned again and again over the heat, basted each time, until the glaze builds up in thin, sticky coats. A sauce poured on at the end sits on the surface; a sauce brushed on ten times becomes part of the skin.
The marinade is sweet and salty, with pineapple juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, ketchup, ginger and garlic. Marinate in the fridge, never on the counter, for at least an hour. Bone-in thighs are the right cut, because they stay juicy over a long cook. Keep half of the marinade back before the raw chicken goes in, and boil that portion for the basting, so no sauce that touched raw meat reaches the plate. Patience at the grill pays.
Grill over medium heat, turning every few minutes and brushing with the boiled marinade. The chicken is done when the juices run clear and a thermometer reads 74°C / 165°F at the thickest part. Rest it for five minutes before serving.
What People Ask
How long does Huli Huli Chicken take to make?
15 minutes of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking, plus 1 hour of Marinating, so allow 2 hours from start to finish. The recipe serves 6.
Huli Huli Chicken: Step by Step
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Whisk the pineapple juice, soy sauce, sugar, ketchup, ginger, garlic and vinegar. Pour half into a pan and set aside for the basting sauce.
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Put the chicken and the rest of the marinade in a bag or dish. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 1 hour.
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Boil the basting sauce for 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Heat the grill to medium.
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Grill the chicken for 45 minutes, turning every 5 minutes and brushing with the boiled sauce, until deep brown and 74°C / 165°F inside.
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Rest for 5 minutes, scatter with spring onions and serve.
Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.
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Tips That Matter
- Turn the chicken often; the sugar in the glaze burns quickly on a hot grill.
- If the skin darkens too fast, move the pieces to a cooler part of the grill.
- Boil any marinade that touched raw chicken before it is used for basting.
Ingredient Swaps
- Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
- If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
What to Serve With It
Steamed rice · Macaroni salad · Grilled pineapple · Coleslaw
Keeping and Reheating
Keeps for 3 days in the fridge. Freeze cooked for 2 months. Reheat until piping hot.
Nutrition per Serving
Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: weights that include bone are counted as if all of it were eaten, so the figures run high. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published .
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