Asian Chicken is sticky, sweet and savoury – everything you know and love about Asian food! An Asian Chicken Marinade infuses the chicken with flavour, and can be cooked on the grill, stove OR oven.
You can never have too many Asian chicken recipes – and this one is a great all rounder!
Asian Chicken recipe
This is a classic Food Memory dish. You know what I mean, don’t you?? It’s when the sight, smell or taste of a specific food brings back a flood of memories of a specific moment in your life.
And I will always remember this particular Asian chicken recipe as the one that rendered my girlfriends silent.
A very rare, noteworthy moment. Because when I get together with my girlfriends, the noise never stops. Chattering, laughing, screeching. You know what it’s like when a bunch of girls get together!!!
But when I put a platter of this Asian Chicken on the table and my friends starting tucking in, silence descended over the table.
The Asian Chicken Marinade tenderises and infuses the chicken with great Asian flavours!
Of course, it was fleeting. Because I distinctly remember one of the girls breaking the silence with a wisecrack about….well, that we were silent because we were so busy tucking into the food!!!
This is one of my classic “back pocket” recipes that I vary from day to day, depending on what I have in the fridge. It’s not so much about having the exact ingredients, it’s more about using the same proportions of something sweet, salty, savoury and sour.
So while the end result might not taste exactly the same as my base recipe, it’s still going to be really tasty. Really, really tasty. 🙂
Which is why I’ve provided plenty of substitutions in the notes. Plus you can eyeball the measurements too. No need to pull out measuring spoons. (Unless you really don’t trust yourself to get the measures approximately right!!)
Great Asian recipe for the grill
The other lovely thing about this recipe is that you can throw it on the BBQ (it’s my “go to” Asian BBQ recipe), cook it on the stove (which is what I did for these photos), under the broiler/grill or bake it in the oven.
So what’s on your meal plan for this week? If you’re preparing ahead, this is perfect to add to the menu! Just throw the chicken and marinade into a ziplock bag and pop it straight into the freezer. It will marinade in the time it takes for it to freeze and defrost which is handy.
Serve it with rice on the side (psst! Did you know you can freeze cooked rice rice? All my relatives in Japan do it! 🙂 ) and some juicy wedges of cucumber (no dressing required, the freshness is a great match with the strong flavours of the chicken).
It’s dinner in a snap! And a pretty darn sensational one at that, in my humble opinion. And if the reaction from my friends was anything to go by! – Nagi x
My favourite Asian Chicken recipes
All these are ideal for grilling but can also be cooked on the stove
-
Yakitori Chicken – Japanese chicken skewers on my mother’s Japanese recipe website, RecipeTin Japan
-
Thai Grilled Chicken (Gai Yang) – marinated in a fragrant Thai marinade
-
Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken – infused with beautiful Vietnamese lemongrass flavours
-
Thai Coconut Chicken – added richness and flavour from a coconut marinade
My favourite back-pocket marinades
These are the ones I use over and over again, made with pantry staples with lots of sub options!
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Asian Chicken (Asian marinade)
Ingredients
- 1 - 1.5 lb / 500 - 750g chicken thigh fillets , skinless boneless
Asian Marinade (see notes for subs)
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 tsp ginger , freshly grated
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 2 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine OR Mirin (Note 1)
- 1 - 3 tbsp Sriracha (adjust spiciness to taste)
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Cooking / Garnishes (optional)
- 2 tsp oil
- Sesame seeds
- Finely sliced shallots / green onions
- Finely sliced red chilies
Instructions
- Mix Marinade ingredients together. Add chicken and mix to coat. Marinade in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour or up to overnight.
- Heat oil in a large non stick skillet or BBQ over medium high heat. (See notes for other cooking methods) Add chicken and cook until each side is dark golden brown and chicken is cooked through (about 3 minutes each side). Transfer to plate, cover loosely with foil and rest for 3 minutes.
- Garnish with chillies, shallots and sesame seeds if desired. Serve with white rice and slices of cucumber.
Recipe Notes:
* Chicken - tenderloins is great, breast also works but won't come out as sticky.
* Garlic / ginger - 1 tsp garlic / ginger powder (but please try to use fresh, it's much better. Asian cooking doesn't use garlic / ginger powder)
* Soy sauce - I use all purpose soy sauce but light or dark also works. Light and Dark Soy Sauce will be labelled as such on the bottle, all purpose just says "soy sauce". I use Kikkoman. And fish sauce could also be used in place of the soy sauce, but reduce to 1 1/2 tbsp (because fish sauce is saltier)
* Tomato ketchup - Australian tomato sauce can be used
* Oyster sauce - hoisin sauce (but note it has a mild Chinese 5 Spice Powder flavour which is nice)
* Chinese cooking wine (aka Shaoxing Cooking Wine) - Asian rice wine used commonly in Asian cooking. Mirin is an excellent alternative. This is the secret ingredient in the marinade! Sub with dry sherry (best option), sake (next best) or marsala. To make it non alcoholic, use 2 tbsp chicken stock/broth PLUS 1 tbsp extra oyster sauce.* Sriracha - swap out with any other chili paste or finely chopped fresh chili or powder. Add a tiny bit (1 tsp or so) of vinegar (white, malt, apple cider), lime or lemon juice (because Sriracha is the "sour" component in this marinade)
* Brown sugar - white sugar, honey or maple syrup
* Sesame oil - this can be left out. 2. This can also be baked in a 180C/350F oven for around 20 minutes or grilled / broiled on high. It's also great made as skewers. 3. To make ahead: Place chicken and marinade in a ziplock bag and place in the freezer straight away. Defrost before cooking. The chicken marinades as it freezes / defrosts. Cook per directions. Cooked chicken doesn't freeze that well - the chicken itself is fine but the marinade flavour fades.
Nutrition per serving, assuming 500g/1lb thigh fillets for 4 servings. Reduces to 288 calories if chicken breast is used. Sodium can be reduced by using less soy sauce or low sodium soy sauce.
Life of Dozer
Shock horror. Guess where Dozer was camping out while I photographed this. (PS He’s wearing his robe because I took him the beach just before making this and it was cold this morning. How would you like to be walking around with wet fur all over you in the middle of winter?? 😉 )
Delicious! Much better than store bought sauce!
Can you use the marinade as a sauce?
Can this be used as a sauce for a chicken stir fry?
This is THE best Asian marinade. Forget all the rest. Tweak this one instead! I promise it will become your go-to for all things Asian marinade. 😉
This has become our go-to weekly Friday Night Dinner marinade. 12 minutes for pounded out chicken breasts on a hot grill after a brine and marinade.
My mom happened to marinate this for 2 days. It was deelicious!! Would def make again and recommend! I didn’t detect the spiciness so increase that if it’s important to you.
Absolutely delicious! I had everything on hand except used hoisin instead of oyster sauce as Nagi said in the notes. Cooked in the oven at 375 F for 30 minutes then broiled for 2 minutes. The result was tender, super flavorful chicken! Thank you for an awesome recipe. This will go in the regular rotation.
This marinade is delicious! Used on chicken and added some leftover (not used) to the noodles and chicken we had for lunch. Using the leftover marinade on chicken for crispy rolls tomorrow for dinner!
One of my favorite Asian marinades!
I thought this was going to be too busy but it was amazing! I swapped out half the soy sauce for fish sauce
Amazing!! Thank you for the notes on substitutions…I subbed sherry and hoisin sauce and it was so wonderful. My husband asked me to make it again!
This is a keeper! Best recipe ever! Made this in St. Catharines, Ontario Canada
In my husband’s words … stunning! Absolutely delicious. Saved into my LOVE IT file which is mostly full of your recipes. 😁
I love this recipe! For me, best was to bbq a flavourful chicken breast. I save the marinade and reheat for a good length of time and drizzle on the cut up cooked chicken, rice and carrots, green onions etc. I don’t like to waste this amazing sauce!
This marinade is amazing!! Made this for chicken wraps and then stir fry – after my partner requested I make it again – and we both – and a friend of ours – all love it so much! **We are very, very picky eaters when it comes to taste, and this surpasses our expectations! I will definitely keep this one bookmarked and use it over again <3
Can you use the same marinade sauce for fish such as salmon or shrimp?
I don’t see why not Mika! You won’t need to leave it but 30 minutes – 1 hour for seafood though. Let me know how it turns out! N x
This Sauce is delicious! I doubled the recipe, and used it on my rice as well. I substituted a small amount of Chile garlic paste for the sirracha. Tonight I am making the sauce and using on Pancit Canton. Thanks so much, love your recipes
Woo hoo Monica!! I am happy you enjoyed it! N x
This is the first time I made this Asian Chicken Marinated, I’ve only marinated the chicken for a couple of hours since I didn’t make any plan and turn out to be incredible, so full of flavors with that minimal marinating time, with the 3 tablespoons of Sriracha brings a subtle heat but not too spicy and made a lot of different, it was sooooo so good, a favorite for the whole family they loved it, every recipe of yours I have made turn out great, will make it again this weekend, TWO THUMBS UP!!! Love your blog it is more than a great blog. THANK YOU… THANK YOU!!! Nagi and Dozer!
I am so pleased you enjoyed it Theany! N x
Hey! I want to make this for dinner but I see no mention of salt. Can someone advise me if I’m not to add it? Thanks so much!
Hi Anna – the soy sauce is the salt in this provides plenty of salt! No need to add more! N x
Thanks Nagi! This was the best marinade ever! I added 5 Spice Powder and chillies a as I was out of Siracha. I also added a little salt once
cooked. I made 20lbs of chicken and it’s been a hit!
WOW! You are cooking in bulk!! N x