Asian Baked Chicken

This is what a perfect week night dinner recipe should be...easy, inexpensive, delicious, and most of all, fast.

I adapted this recipe from here but instead of chopping the aromatics, I grate them.  Much, much quicker.  And all moms know that on week nights, every minute counts!

I marinate the chicken the night before so that I can just pop the entire thing in the oven when I get home.  But if you're using boneless chicken pieces, even just a couple of hours in the marinade is enough.

Anyway, here goes...

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1-2 tbsp grated ginger (depending on how much you like ginger!)
5-6 cloves of garlic, grated
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
10-12 pieces of chicken

For the chicken, I sometimes buy a whole one and have it chopped, or I use a combination of chicken pieces (like in the photo above), or I will also use boneless, skin-on thighs or breasts.  You can use skinless chicken pieces too but I find that it dries up too much before the sauce gets nicely caramelized.

And another tip: When I buy ginger, I cut them up into 2-3 inch pieces and grate as I need. I could never finish those huge pieces and used to end up throwing a lot of shriveled ginger.  Now, I always have fresh ginger on hand.  Plus, if you grate it, you don't even have to peel!  How grate (pun intended) is that?!

On to the rest of the recipe...

In an oven proof dish, mix the first 6 ingredients.  Coat chicken pieces well with the marinade and leave for 12-24 hours in the fridge.  When you're ready to cook, take the chicken out about an hour before to let it come as close to room temperature as possible.  Bake in a 475 degree oven for 30-45 minutes.  Baking time will largely depend on what pieces you decide to use and whether you use bone-in or boneless chicken.  If you don't get that nice crust on top and the chicken is already done, turn on the broiler for a few minutes.  Watch closely because the sugar in the marinade will cause it to burn quickly.

Serve with lots of white rice to sop up all the sticky, sweet, savory sauce.