Happy Almost Birthday to me! I’m going to celebrate with myself and this Mom’s broiled chicken.
If you’ve been following along the past two years, you know that I always give myself a two week break from the map to share and dig into my absolute favorite foods. Usually, they’re mom foods or family favorites. It’s a most delicious time of the year, IMO.
However, this year, I’ve been lamenting the fact that I haven’t been able to come up with any good birthday treats because, as it turns out, I’ve made a lot of them: veal paprikash, indian breakfast, birthday cake, peach upside cake, pulled pork…there aren’t a whole lot of my absolute faves left. Just as I was about to give a shout out to my Buffalo heritage and make buffalo wings, I decided to make another Buddha family original- mom’s recipe for broiled chicken that fuses a little bit of hungary with a little bit of buddha. I really couldn’t even think of a better name for it than simply broiled chicken since that’s just what we call it.
Her recipe really couldn’t be easier. Hungarian paprika to coat chicken pieces, topped with oyster sauce to make it glisten. Broil. Served with a squeeze of lime. Easily adapted for a party of one, or a party of ten.
And served with some sweet potato wedges just because I do love me some SPWs.
I think we ate broiled chicken…at least once a week as a kid. Frequency dwindled as mom could not longer find her brand of oyster sauce, Koon Chun, and then it was a novelty, not wanting to waste an ounce of the gooey brown liquid on just a random anymeal. To this day she has to hoard it, bottles and bottles, whenever she (or I) can find it.
Anyway, talking to mom, I said, “I think I’m going to make broiled chicken. It’s easy and only takes like, 15 minutes.” At that point she questioned exactly what recipe I was making- her broiled chicken takes 40 minutes to cook. After some back and forth, she realized that I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs. Of COURSE it only took 15 minutes. But then she told me that was cheating, and part of the fun of broiled chicken is picking up the thighs and drumsticks and getting a little messy.
Background– as a kid I DID NOT pick up food with my hands. I had some weird OCD fear about getting my hands dirty, so much so that I wrapped napkins around my utensils. Yeah, I have no clue. Needless to say I’ve out grown whatever fear I had back then, and happily roll up my sleeves and dig in whenever the occasion calls for it. Anyway, the point of telling you this is that there was no fun for me in getting my hands dirty when she used to make it when I was a wee tot, so translating that into my adult life, I’ve thus far cheated by going boneless.
HOWEVER, authenticity has its time and place, and I don’t want to be seen as a cheater in the eyes of my mother, so I went skin on, bone-in, for today’s dish. Just as easy. Just as delicious. Just a little longer in the oven.
Don’t be afraid to get a little messy with it.
- 2-4 large bone-in, skin-on chicken drumsticks and/or thighs
- 1 TB Hungarian paprika (enough to thoroughly coat each piece)
- 1/3 cup oyster sauce (enough to thoroughly coat each piece)
- Lime, to serve and garnish
- Preheat the broiler.
- In a large bowl, place the chicken. Coat well with the paprika, ensuring each piece is covered. Add the oyster sauce, ensuring each piece is covered.
- On a foil lined broiler sheet, lay each piece, skin side down, in a single layer. Broil around 20-25 minutes. Flip the chicken and finish off for another 10-12 minutes.
- Let chicken rest a few minutes before serving with a squeeze of lime.
- Feel free to use boneless, skinless, and just cook 7 minutes on the first side, 5 on the flip side.
Two years ago: Serabi with Kinca Syrup
One year ago: Mandalas Torte
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I’ve never ever seen anything like this before, Chrissy, mixing paprika and oyster sauce, but I bet it’s amazing … umami central!
I would definitely grab a big piece and eat it all messily with my fingers!
Happy birthday!
Who knows what mom was thinking, but if I’ve learned anything, it’s to just trust her! I hope you give it a try- I think you’ll love it!
It must be very delicious! I would have never thought of using oyster sauce to make broiled chicken.
Leave it to mom! It sounds really weird, but I really think you’d love it!
I used to love this chicken when we’d go visit Aunt Elaine. I’ve been wanting this for some time now and am making it tonight for dinner.
How’d it go?