Huli Huli Chicken (Tropical Hawaiian chicken)
← All recipes

Huli Huli Chicken (Tropical Hawaiian chicken)

👤 5 servings medium 🌍 Hawaiian recipetineats.com ↗

This traditional Hawaiian recipe features in-your-face tropical flavours with a sweet, savoury, and sticky pineapple-based marinade created by Nagi. The chicken becomes incredibly tender and develops a beautiful caramelised glaze when cooked on the BBQ or pan-seared, best achieved with a 24-48 hour marinade, though 3 hours works in a pinch with generous basting. A vibrant dish that will have you doing the hula dance before it even hits the table!

Chicken

Ingredients

  • 1.5 kg chicken thighs
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 0.75 cup pineapple juice, canned or bottled
  • 1.5 tbsp ginger
  • 1.5 tbsp garlic
  • 0.5 cup tomato ketchup
  • 0.5 cup soy sauce
  • 0.25 cup sherry or Chinese cooking wine
  • 0.25 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp Sriracha
  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • green onion
  • pineapple slices

Instructions

  1. Mix all marinade ingredients together and set aside 3/4 cup (185 ml) for basting later.
  2. Pour the remaining marinade over the chicken in a glass or ceramic container (not metal or plastic), coat the chicken thoroughly, then marinate for 24-48 hours in the refrigerator.
  3. Brush BBQ grills with oil and preheat to medium high heat, or heat oil in a skillet over medium high heat on the stovetop.
  4. Drain excess marinade from chicken and place on the BBQ or skillet.
  5. Cook the first side for 2-3 minutes until golden (adjust heat if browning too fast), then flip and cook for 2 minutes.
  6. Baste (dab) generously with the reserved marinade, then flip and cook for 1 minute.
  7. Repeat the basting and flipping every minute or so for a total cook time of 10 minutes, or until the internal temperature in the thickest part registers 75°C/167°F for thigh or 65°C/150°F for breast.
  8. Transfer chicken to a plate, loosely cover with foil, and rest for 3 minutes before serving.
  9. Garnish with sliced green onion and grilled pineapple slices if desired.

Save it. Cook it. Track it.

Bookmark this recipe, plan your week, and track calories — all in FooZenie.

Get FooZenie Free