A saucy glazed chicken thigh is typically pretty hard to beat, but this Hawaiian shoyu chicken is really something special. Featuring a ridiculously simple soy and brown sugar sauce, this easy one-pot meal will become your new go-to weeknight dinner. Keep reading on for all of my top tips on how to make this chicken dinner the best it can be.
The roots of shoyu chicken:
Shoyu chicken is a classic Hawaiian dish, typically made with bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, which are simmered in a mixture of brown sugar, soy sauce, and water with a little garlic and ginger for aromatics. It’s called “shoyu” after the type of soy sauce that is usually used: Aloha shoyu. While we recommend that you seek out this specific soy sauce for the truest shoyu chicken experience, another brand of low-sodium soy sauce will work in a pinch.
The chicken:
Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are a key ingredient here for me, since they bring additional richness to the sauce that boneless, skinless chicken thighs do not have. Starting them skin-side-down in a cold pan allows the fat just underneath the chicken skin enough time to render out as the skin browns, resulting in a thinner, better browned chicken skin. Please note: If for some reason you don’t have bone-in, skin-on thighs, you can substitute boneless, skinless thighs in a pinch; skip the browning step and go straight to sautéing the garlic and ginger and adding the sauce ingredients. Just be aware that the cooking time might be slightly different.
Serving ideas:
Because of the wonderful sauce, I highly recommend serving this chicken with rice or some carby thing to soak it up as you eat.
Storage:
Just like any saucy braised dish, shoyu chicken is excellent left over. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
Did you try making this? Let us know how it went in the comments!
