Since I left the French Riviera at the end of May a lot of travel and learning has occurred! We took a 2 week trip to the Loire Valley, Mont Saint-Michel, Monet’s Garden, Versailles, Paris and then Epernay. If you follow on Instagram you may have seen all of the sights that we’ve been visiting! I have a lot of travel posts to fill in to bring you up to date and hopefully will be getting to those this week. In the mean time I am sadly starting my countdown until I’m back in America and behind my grill!
Speaking of grills, as my husband and I strolled around our new town of Colmar yesterday we stumbled upon a local church festival. Let me backtrack a bit here…we’re in Colmar for the next month which is on the German border of France. The result, a very German influence in the architecture and the cuisine. It really feels like you’re strolling around Disney with how cute the buildings look.
Back to the church festival! We could smell the sausages grilling from block away and since we’ve been feeling so deprived of grilled food since leaving home we knew we had to stop. One of the fun things about ‘living’ in an area for more than 2-3 days it that you really have a chance to immerse yourself within a culture. And so we did. We enjoyed some Alsatian sausages, beer and live German tunes and it was the perfect way to spend a Saturday night!
I made this recipe last summer before I left for Europe and I love the sweet and spicy combination of the marinade. You can find Gochujang is practically any Asian section of your local grocery store and it can be used for a lot of different things. My favorite is to mix it into meat marinades but be cautious because of the sugar it will burn easily if you don’t watch what you’re doing!
Now that I’ve rambled on and on, let’s get to the recipe! I suggest an overnight marinade and allowing the meat to rest for 10 minutes before serving! You’ll end up with flavorful, juicy chicken with a sweet/spicy flavor! Enjoy!
- 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
- 4 to 5 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup soy sauce
- ½ cup Gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste)
- 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- ¼ cup toasted sesame oil
- 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks
- For the cucumber salad:
- 3-4 Persian cucumbers, sliced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon sesame seeds
- 2 green onions, chopped
- Combine the onions, garlic, soy sauce, Gochujang, brown sugar, honey, rice vinegar, and sesame oil in a medium bowl and stir to combine. Place the chicken in a large zip-closure bag and pour the marinade in, making sure all of the chicken is covered. Seal the bag and lay it flat in a large, shallow pan or on a plate. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight, flipping once.
- When ready to cook, preheat a grill to high heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade and place skin- side down over direct heat. Cover and cook for a few minutes until grill marks appear. Flip the chicken, cover, and cook until grill marks appear.
- Reduce the grill heat to medium and cover and grill, flipping the chicken every 3 minutes, until cooked through, no longer pink inside, and the thickest part of the meat registers 165°F, 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
- For the cucumber salad, toss together the cucumbers, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, red chili powder and sesame seeds. Sprinkle with chopped green onions before serving.
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