Everyone in Hawaii has their own family recipe for shoyu chicken. My recipe has a Chinese twist with the addition of star anise giving the sauce a gentle hint of licorice, if you are not a fan of licorice, which I am not, don’t be afraid to add this layer of flavor. One little star anise wakes up the sauce in a way that no other spice can.
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| Star Anise |
If you leave the star anise out, you will be making it more of a Japanese style shoyu chicken which is also very good, it’s all up to you. This simple one pot meal will prove to be a crowd pleaser the minute it hits the table.
Shoyu is the Japanese word for soy sauce. In Hawaii all soy sauce is referred to as shoyu. Not all shoyu sauces are created equal. Aloha shoyu is the soy sauce of choice for the people of Hawaii, but it is very expensive to purchase outside of Hawaii, turning an economical meal into a treasure. So I have learned to adjust my recipes using Kikkoman which is readily available to me in Oregon.
I made this dish with bone in, skin on chicken thighs because that is how we make it in Hawaii. But you can use boneless, skinless chicken if you choose. Just be sure to use dark meat like thighs, legs or wings for this recipe or your chicken will be dry. But, if you are completely against using dark meat chicken, marinate your breast meat overnight in the marinade and cook the chicken for no more than 15 – 20 minutes.
HAWAIIAN STYLE SHOYU CHICKEN
4 – 5 pounds chicken thighs
SAUCE
½ cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup white sugar
1 cup Kikkoman soy sauce
1 cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
1 whole star anise
TO THICKEN (optional)
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. water
Mix all sauce ingredients together in a large pot or skillet with a cover. Place the chicken pieces in the sauce and let marinate for an hour or two. Place pot over the stove and bring to a boil; lower heat and cover. Cook chicken for about 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
To Thicken (optional)
Mix cornstarch with the 2 Tbsp. water. Remove chicken and skim off the fat. Bring sauce to a boil and stir in cornstarch mixture. Stir and cook until thickened. Add chicken back to the pot.
absolutely yummy! my ohana LOVED it..i was so afraid to try another recipe ( i forgot the measurements my mom uses) but this comes real close to it!! ^_^ ONO-LICIOUS!
ReplyDeleteMahalo for the thumbs up Dezixpai, I'm so glad that you and your family enjoyed it.
DeleteThis shoyu chicken is DA Bomb! My whole family loved this recipe and I can say this is the best shoyu chicken recipe I have ever made!!
ReplyDeleteMahalo Adrienne,DA Bomb is quite the compliment:)
DeleteMy 30-year-old son prepared dinner for us (Dad and Mom) as a "thank you" gesture for my baby sitting his 10-month old son on Friday. (Wife-Mom was working.) I observed him as he prepared the shoyu chicken with your recipe on his ipad. ~~ My husband and I were amazed at the wonderful taste and presentation of the chicken thighs. I even dare say, I have never tasted such delicious looking shoyu chicken in all of my 60+ years of life. It looked like it was prepared by a fine dining restaurant chef.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan, for sharing this recipe with us. Now, I won't be hesitant to prepare shoyu chicken for my family and/or friends.
New Grandma from Hawaii
Congratulations "tutu"!
DeleteMahalo for your encouragement and taking the time to share your story with me. It touched my heart and brought a smile to my face.
Aloha from Oregon :)
I will be trying this recipe soon. Im so happy I found this.
ReplyDeleteOne question I will be using Aloha shoyu instead of Kikkoman so will I use the same amount that the recipe calls for? My understanding is that Kikkoman is salter than Aloha shoyu.
Hi Brandi, Thanks for stopping by and for the great question. Since you are fortunate enough to be using Aloha Shoyu, I would decrease the amount of water to 3/4 c. instead of 1 c. Let me know how your shoyu chicken turns out.
DeleteFinally made this tonight. What a big hit at the dinner table!!! I think next time I make this which will be soon I will add a little less sugar my 4yr old said it was yummy but a little sweet.Thanks susan for sharing.
DeleteI will be trying your chicken long rice next :)
That's awesome! Yes, I should have told you to cut back on the sugar too. Because as you stated earlier, the Kikkoman is not so much saltier but has a much stronger flavor.
DeleteI just made chicken long rice and I highly recommend you look for the fatter long rice noodles, the ones in the pink netting will get soggy fast. But if you have to use the ones in the pink netting, skip the extra cooking time listed on the recipe.
Hi Susan!
ReplyDeleteI'm from Hawaii and I just moved to Oregon for school. I saw your recipe and I was so excited to try it out for a potluck. Im newly exploring my cooking skills so I'm a little nervous. I have what I think is a medium sized pot and I'm not sure if I can fit all 4 lbs of chicken in there, so I was wondering if I used less chicken, would it make it more salty?
Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Ning, Welcome to Oregon!
DeleteYou can cook as little as 2# or up to 5# per recipe. Cooking less chicken shouldn't make it more salty, you will just have more sauce than you need. What I would suggest is to cut the recipe in half.
I can't wait to hear how your chicken turns out.
Aloha, Susan
Susan,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for recipe. We lived in Oahu for about a year back in 2006. I know it wasn't long, but we absolutely fell in love with the islands. This meal reminded us of what we're missing. Thanks again and I look forward to trying your other recipes.
Aloha!
Aloha, Mahalo for stopping by. A year in Oahu is plenty of time to discover and miss the flavors of Hawaii. I'm so happy that you enjoyed this dish and look forward to hearing about the other recipes that you try. A hui ho.
DeleteMy cooking club "went to Hawaii" tonight with our menu. This was our main dish and WOW, it was amazing!!! We used skinless, bone-in thighs and drumsticks. So easy and just melt in your mouth good! Thanks for sharing it :) It will be a keeper in our house!
ReplyDeleteAloha Amy,
DeleteI appreciate your kind words! I'm so happy to hear that you and your cooking club included my shoyu chicken in your flavors of Hawaii menu.
A hui ho (til we meet again)
Born and raised on Oahu---living in AK now. Gonna try this recipe ..
ReplyDeleteAloha Val, I was just at a family reunion last week on Oahu. I stuffed myself with all my favorite foods and when asked what I brought back from Hawaii I say... lots of ono grinds and I point to my belly :) Shoyu Chicken will taste more ono in AK. Enjoy!!!
DeleteDo you think I could marinate the chicken overnight, then bake in the oven rather than cooking on the stove? Thighs and breasts maybe??
ReplyDeleteDo you think I could marinate the chicken overnight (thighs and breasts) and bake it in the oven instead of cooking it on the stovetop?
ReplyDeleteYes that would work. I would suggest 350 for 50 min to an hour. The breast pieces will cook faster. You can probably remove the breast pieces first, then continue cooking the thighs.
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ReplyDeleteI am using Aloha Shoyu to make this chicken recipe. It calls for 1 cup Kikkoman and 1 cup of water. If I use the Aloha Shoyu, do I need to add the water or do I just use 1 cup of Aloha Shoyu? Will the 1 cup of Shoyu be enough to make the 4-5 pounds of chicken in your recipe? If we use Aloha Shoyu instead of Kikkoman in your other recipe's (which calls for water) do we change anything to compensate for the reduced water? By the way, your Baked Beans recipe was awesome, Rave reviews. Thanks, Kona
ReplyDeleteHi Kona,
DeleteYes, if you are using Aloha Shoyu cut the water down to 1/2c. and increase the Shoyu to 1 1/2 cups this should be plenty of sauce for 4-5# of chicken. When substituting Aloha for Kikkoman, I would suggest 3 parts Aloha to 1 part water. I'm so happy that you enjoyed the baked beans. It's one of my family's favorites. Let me know how your Shoyu Chicken turns out. Enjoy!