Grilled Asian Chicken Wings

I had been craving Thai Cucumber Salad for about a week now.  I thought that these grilled chicken wings would go perfectly with the salad and a nice bowl of steamed Jasmine rice.  The glaze has a beautiful sweet and savory flavor that goes perfectly with the smokey flavor of grilled chicken. 

The wings were so good that when my eldest son Donald came home from being at a friend's cookout he ate a half dozen of these little guys. 

Ingredients:

3-4 lbs chicken wings

salt and pepper

1 tbsp garlic powder

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup teriyaki sauce

1/2 cup black soy sauce (if you don't have any on hand you may use regular)

1/2 cup mirin (sweet Japanese wine)

1/4 cup honey

Directions:

1. In a large bowl coat the chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder
2. Once well seasoned, toss in oil (prevents chicken from sticking to grill grate)
3. In saucepan mix, teriyaki sauce, black soy sauce, mirin, and honey
4. Heat until rolling boil, remove from heat
5. Grill seasoned chicken
6. In the last 10 minutes of grilling chicken, brush chicken with glaze - about every 2 min
7. Remove chicken, place in bowl, and toss with remaining glaze

Korean Grilled Steak

I am half Thai and my husband Roger is half Korean.  I love to cook fragrant and spicy Thai food and I am really enjoying learning about and cooking Korean Cuisine - my taste buds also get a break from all that spice!! 

I have found that the only way I like Korean food is when it is made from scratch - those little packets you can purchase at the oriental supermarket just don't cut it.  Stay away - far, far, far away from those things!  The fresh ingredients make all the difference.  I love the sweet and savory combo of many of the marinades I've learned to make, especially when the meat is grilled.

Ingredients:

2 lbs Top Sirloin Steak

1/2 cup soy sauce

5 tbsp white sugar

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)

3 shallots, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 green onions, sliced

5 tbsp mirin (sweet Japanese wine)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, shallots, garlic, 1 sliced green onion, and mirin
2. Add meat, and stir to coat
3. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours
4. Sear meat on grill over direct, high heat, about 1-2 min per side - depending on thickness of meat
5. Move to indirect heat and cook to your liking (I prefer medium rare)
6. Baste the meat with the leftover marinade throughout cooking
7. Sprinkle the remaining green onion over meat

Thinly slice the meat against the grain and serve over steamed rice and a side of vegetables. 



Korean Grilled Chicken Breast

This is one of the family's favorite marinades.  It is inspired by a Kalbi (Korean BBQ) marinade and goes best with steamed Jasmine Rice.  The grilled chicken will have a light, sweet, and savory flavor.  I'll be using the leftovers for a salad tomorrow.  Let me know how yours turns out!

Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup mirin (rice wine)
1 small onion, finely grated
4 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 green onions, thinly sliced (set aside 1/4 for garnish)

Directions:

1. Cut chicken breasts into 1 inch thick strips, set aside
2. Combine all other ingredients into bowl, mix well
3. Place chicken and marinade in gallon sized Ziploc bag
4. Marinade overnight
5. Remove chicken from bag, set aside
6. Place marinade in saucepan and bring to boil (baste chicken with cooked marinade while on grill)
7. Sear both sides of chicken breast on direct heat, approximately 1 min per side
8. Move chicken to indirect heat and close grill
9. The chicken cooks fast, about 5-10 min (watch closely to avoid overcooking)
10. Pour remaining cooked marinade over grilled chicken (if desired)
11. Sprinkle with green onions and serve with rice

Balsamic Glazed Chicken Breast

Roger and I purchased our first charcoal grill together about three weeks ago.  This is really exciting for us to share with you because we've used our grill about a half-dozen times.  Two bags of charcoal, 32 ounces of lighter fluid, and 5 pounds of burnt or undercooked meat later - we finally got it right!  We have come to realize through our smoke-filled trials and errors that it is best to keep it simple when it comes to grilling.  I present to you our FIRST grilling masterpiece:

Ingredients:

4 split chicken breasts, with skin

2 tbsp powdered garlic

1 tbsp salt

2 tbsp peanut oil, or any oil of your choosing

Glaze:

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup soy soy sauce, add more if desired

1 more tbsp powdered garlic

1 tsp dried rosemary

Directions:

1. Sprinkle chicken with garlic powder and salt.  Generously brush with peanut oil on both sides, set aside to begin glaze
2. Combine all glaze ingredients in sauce pan and cook over medium heat on stove, approximately 15-20 minutes
3. Sear chicken breasts on high-heat grill over direct heat, 2 minutes per side (please do not skip this step, it keeps the chicken nice and juicy)
4. Once seared move chicken to indirect heat and close grill
5. Turn chicken every 10 minutes, 4 -5 times (depending on size of breasts)
6. Brush glaze over both sides of breasts and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes

We plated the chicken and it looked great (much like our past failures).  We both looked at each other, trying to hold back our excitement for fear that we would once again be disappointed.  We brought the chicken into the kitchen, set it on the counter and plated up.  Roger grabbed a knife and delicately cut through the first breast while I held my breath.  It was like watching a movie in slow motion - his fork being brought to his lips... as he began to chew he closed his eyes and said, "BABY!  You have to try this!"  I was paralyzed (just kidding) - I dug in and we didn't speak for at least 3 minutes.  It was amazing.  It was so good that we ate dinner standing at the kitchen counter, staring at each other.  We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did.