Skip to main content

Sweet Soy-Glazed BBQ Chicken Recipe

This grilled chicken recipe uses soy sauce, sake, and brown sugar to create both a marinade and a sweet-and-salty glaze.

By chow · From Open Recipes · 14 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Sake and pineapple share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 5 recipes mention both. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

The recipe

4 to 6 servings
Cook3 hr 10 min

Ingredients

Contains: wheat, soy, sesame (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Whisk the first 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 2 tablespoons sake or dry sherry and 4 chopped garlic cloves in a bowl. Put the chicken in a bag or dish, add the marinade, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

  2. Make the glaze: in a saucepan, combine the 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup soy sauce, pineapple juice, 1/4 cup sake or sherry, white wine vinegar and 2 chopped garlic cloves. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then simmer 5 minutes.

  3. Whisk the cornstarch dissolved in cold water into the simmering glaze and cook 1 to 2 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.

  4. Heat the grill to medium-high and oil the grates by rubbing them with vegetable oil. Drain the chicken and discard the used marinade.

  5. Grill the chicken over medium heat, turning every 5 to 7 minutes, for about 40 minutes until the thickest part reaches 165°F (74°C). Boneless breasts will cook faster than bone-in pieces.

  6. During the last 10 minutes, brush the chicken with some of the glaze and turn occasionally so it caramelizes without burning.

  7. Transfer the chicken to a plate and rest 5 minutes. Warm the remaining glaze, spoon it over the chicken, and sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds before serving.

By chow. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Sake + pineappletop 9% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together5 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Garlic + chickentop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together10,839 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

  3. Sake + white winetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together19 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Pineapple + white winetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together44 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  5. Sake + chickentop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together46 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the pineapple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, sauce, sake, garlic, chicken, white wine, vinegar):

  1. Grapeabout as good a flavor fit
  2. Pineapplethe original
  3. Lemonabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Plumabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, sauce, sake, garlic, chicken, white wine, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).