Spicy Honey BBQ Chicken

The prospect of cooking BBQ Chicken in my oven that was more involved than just opening up a bottle of BBQ Sauce and dumping it on, really had me excited about this recipe. I liked that it seemed to have a lot of different dimensions: sweet, tangy, and spicy. But...it didn't knock my socks off. Not like I was hoping it would. Maybe with some tweaks it could be really good.

Adapted from Emeril Lagasse
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Serves 4


8 chicken legs
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp sriracha (hot red pepper chili paste)
2 tbsp white sesame seeds
2 tbsp ginger, grated
2 tbsp garlic, minced
2 tbsp sesame oil

Combine all ingredients into a casserole dish or jellyroll pan. Toss chicken in sauce and let marinate for at least a couple hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put pan in oven and let bake for about 45 minutes, turning every 10-15 minutes.


Click here for printable version of Spicy Honey BBQ Chicken
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THE RESULTS?
Honestly? Kind of disappointing. The chicken was pretty salty....the original recipe called for 1 cup of soy sauce and I thought that was over the top, so I cut that down to 1/2 cup but it was still too much. I've adjusted the recipe to use only 1/4 cup. I really expected more of an interesting flavor profile, but probably because the soy sauce was so overwhelming I didn't get to taste the delicate balance of flavors. I think trying this again with the adjusted measurements, and possibly even using the same procedure to cook it that Ginger Maple Glazed Chicken uses would work well. I have not given up hope on this recipe yet!

I will update the recipe if I am successful in my modifications.