Baked Soy Oyster Sauce Chicken

The oven, my good friend. A great helper in dinner preparation.

Baked soy oyster sauce chicken thighs .... I used to marinate chicken wings, instead of chicken thighs. Instead of baking the wings, I fried the wings in some sesame oil until half cooked, poured the marinade, together with some water and braised the wings till fully cooked. The stove would be covered with spots of sesame oil as the wings fried in the pan. Imagine the amount of cleaning up after cooking!

Being in an adventurous mood one day, I decided to use the marinade on the packet of chicken thighs I purchased. I knew I couldn't fry the thighs, as it would take ages for me to fry these thick pieces of chicken parts. Baking would save me all the trouble of cleaning up!

I baked the chicken thighs in a baking tray lined with aluminium foil.

The dish didn't disappoint us! The chicken meat was very tender, unlike chicken breast meat. However, the oil from the chicken skin after cooking, plus the sesame oil used in the marinade, was a little more than what I had expected. But all I needed to do was to try to skim off the oil with a metal spoon before serving .. not too bad after all, since the gravy would be poured over the blanched Bak Chok, which needed some oil anyway.

6 Chicken Thighs

2 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce

1-2 tbsp Soy Sauce (I used Kikkoman's Low Sodium Soy Sauce)

1 tbsp Oyster Sauce (I used Shitake Flavored Vegetarian Stir-Fry Sauce)

1 tbsp Sesame Oil

1 tsp Sugar

A few dashes of ginger powder or grated ginger from a 2cm knob of ginger.

• Put chicken thighs and marinade in a ziploc bag.
• Mix well and marinate for at least two hours or overnight if possible.
• Line a baking tray with aluminium foil.
• Transfer the chicken thigh and marinade into the baking tray.
• Place the chicken thighs with skin side down.
• Cover the baking tray with another piece of aluminium foil.
• Bake at 425F for about 30 minutes.
• Turn the chicken thighs. Continue baking with the aluminium foil covering the tray.
• Bake for another 20 minutes, or till the meat is cooked through.
• Leave in oven to keep warm, with aluminium foil covering the tray, till ready to eat.
• Skim the layer of oil away before serving, if necessary.
• Serve with blanched vegetables like Bak Choy, Spinach, and a bowl of steaming hot rice.

Minimum cleaning, no oily spots on stove. Yeah!

Instead of eating it with a bowl of rice, you can pour the gravy over some noodles and have your plate of chicken noodles! Dont like the soft skin? Just before serving, broil the chicken pieces for a few minutes to get that crispy skin! But make sure you don't leave the thighs under the broiler for too long or they will burnt.

Hmmm ... Enjoy!