Brown Sugar Chicken

By Sweet July

At least once a week Ayesha's mom would make this ‘sweet chicken’ (as they called it), usually upon Ayesha's request.

Serves: 4

Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

It’s a sticky, sweet, fall-off-the-bone chicken dish that (according to Ayesha) is second to none.

One bite and you'll quickly understand why this is considered one of Ayesha's most popular recipes. Simple to make using just a few easy-to-find ingredients, the chicken braises in a sweet, ginger sauce that makes it so tender you can pull it apart with a fork. We love to serve this chicken over coconut rice and a veggie side like roasted broccolini.

Ingredients

4 chicken quarters
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
Sliced scallions, garnish
Toasted sesame seeds, garnish

Instructions

step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

step 2

Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add butter and olive oil. Generously season chicken with salt and pepper, then add to pot and sear on each side for about 2 minutes until golden brown. Remove chicken to a plate and reduce heat to medium.

step 3

Add in the onion and season with salt and pepper. Sauté for a few minutes until softened, then add the garlic and cook for a minute more. Deglaze the pot with chicken stock, scraping down all of the sides to get all the delicious seasonings and flavors into the broth.

step 4

Stir in the soy sauce, brown sugar and fresh ginger, and heat until it reaches a gentle simmer. Add the chicken back into the pot, place the lid on and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 30 minutes until chicken is cooked through and falls apart tender.