Saucy and utterly delicious with rice, these Chicken thigh fillets with hoisin and sweet potato make the perfect meal. They will feed 4 or more people if you have a crowd. I love them because I can meal prep and have them for a few dinners or even lunches during the week and they taste amazing to the last morsel.
What is hoisin?
Hoisin sauce is occasionally known as Chinese barbecue sauce and it is a shiny thick dark sauce with an almost pungent sweet and salty taste. It’s used in Chinese and Vietnamese cooking for stir-fries, as a meat glaze, or additive to a marinade and also as an addictive dipping sauce. As with most recipes, there are variants from brand to brand.
It is made with soy sauce, fermented soybean paste, vinegar, sugar, garlic, sesame paste and oil, sometimes Chinese five spice, black pepper and even dried sweet potato. It can be used in so many dishes. This Hoisin chicken with coconut rice is a stunning weeknight meal AND try this Hoisin salmon meatballs in Asian broth. If you want some ideas to use up the last of your hoisin have a look here
Vote 1 Hoisin chicken for dinner
Dinner time!
You will find making this delicious dish straightforward. The chicken and the sauce are a one pot deal. Adding sweet potato means a quick steaming or microwaving of the potato but you could substitute red peppers (capsicums), in chunks or baby corn. I just happen to love sweet potato with hoisin sauce.
Of course, this is perfect with rice because it soaks up all the lovely sauce. I don’t always eat this with rice, I sometimes, perhaps strangely, eat it with a salad, but I love salad. This already has a hit of carbs with that sweet potato, but hey, I guess it might be nice with plain steamed potato too!
The thing is you can customize it to the way you like it with more or less vegetables, rice, potato, anything you like. It’s the chicken and the sauce that are the most delicious part of this dish.
Here’s how you make Hoisin chicken in pictures.
1 and 2. Mix the soy, sweet soy, hoisin, sugar, sesame, ginger, and garlic.
3. Stir together well and add the chicken. Let this stand while you sort out the other ingredients.
4. Slice and steam the potatoes
5 and 6. Now to put the rest together. Soften the onions and then set aside in a bowl
7. Take the chicken out of the sauce with tongs wiping off some of the excess sauce on the side of the bowl. Set the leftover sauce aside.
8. and 9. The chicken is going to be sealed in the reheated frypan. Be sure to keep the heat at medium so the sauce doesn’t burn too much. Don’t clean the pan between batches of chicken unless it starts to catch or burn. If this happens I wipe out the pan with some kitchen paper.
The chicken doesn’t need to be cooked through. Put the chicken back into the sauce after each batch is sealed.
Woohoo. Nearly dinner time! Put that rice on.
Pour the chicken and the leftover sauce into the frypan. I like to add chopped coriander here too.
Add a cup of water.
Put the lid on and bring up the heat. When the sauce is at a boil, give it a stir. Add the onion sweet potato and broccoli. If you were adding nice big chunks of red capsicums this is where they would go.
Finishing off the cooking is easy.
Put the lid back on and let it simmer for 5 to 8 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through when tested and the sweet potato and broccoli now hot.
Keep your eye on this it won’t take long. Don’t cook over high heat for a long time as the vegetables will go squishy. It really doesn’t take long for the chicken to cook through. Finish the sauce with a squeeze of lemon or lime
Chicken thigh fillets with hoisin and sweet potato
Ingredients
Method
- Put the hoisin sauce, soy, sweet soy, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and sugar into a large bowl big enough to hold all of the chicken too. Stir the sauce well then add the chicken. Turn it over to coat well and set aside.
- Cut the sweet potato into 3cm thick rings or chunks if you like. Put these into a steamer and steam until just tender. You can also microwave them until just tender if you do not have a steamer
- If you would like to eat this with rice, this is the time to put that on too. Wash 2 cups of rice in cold water and drain well. Put into a pot that has a fitting lid. Add 3 cups of cold water and a pinch of salt. Put the pot on a medium heat and bring up to the boil. When it boils stir and then add the lid. Turn off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes without opening the lid
- Using tongs remove the chicken from the marinade wiping excess off, on the side of the bowl. Put the chicken into another bowl. Reserve the left over sauce.
- Heat a large fry pan until hot. Add 20 ml of vegetable oil and start adding the chicken in a single layer. Cook until coloured on one side then turn over ( 2 to 3 minutes). The chicken does not need to be cooked through. Continue until all of the pieces are done.
- When the chicken is sealed on both sides put it back into the sauce bowl with the leftover marinade. You will need to add a bit more oil to each batch as you fry. If the pan starts to burn wipe it out with some kitchen paper and turn it down just a little
- Turn the heat to medium low and pour back all of the chicken and the leftover (uncooked) sauce into the frypan and 1 cup of water. Let the suace just come to a boil. Turn the chicken over and shake the pan a bit
- Add the sweet potato, onion and broccoli, and chopped coriander. Put a lid in the frypan and steam for 5 – 6 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through when tested
- Add the lemon or lime juice. Test for salt and serve with rice or with a salad if you want to skip rice. serve with coriander leaves
Notes
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