How to make Kojin’s huli huli chicken

“Chef Artois”—the eight-episode culinary miniseries produced by Toronto Life and Stella Artois—just wrapped up. If you weren’t following along, it’s not too late to catch the cook-off action. We’ve made it easy to binge the whole season. Here, you’ll find links to each of our bite-sized, 12-minute episodes. On “Chef Artois” the contestants have to scramble against the clock while recreating Toronto’s most iconic dishes without a recipe. Now, we’re inviting you to try making these dishes at home—but don’t worry, we’ve published the recipes alongside each episode recap.

Watch the episode

Make the dish

Makes four half birds

Ingredients

2 whole chickens
6 heads of garlic, peeled and smashed
300 grams ginger, cut up
1 small red or Spanish onion
1 bunch of scallions
2 litres shoyu (Japanese-style soy sauce)
700 grams passion fruit or pineapple puree
200 grams brown sugar
1 bunch coriander, roots only
80 grams mirin
180 grams kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
100 grams fish sauce

The recipe

Cut chickens apart using poultry shears and separate the back of the chicken by cutting out the spine. Now separate the chicken breast away from the rib cage while keeping the half carcass intact. You can also ask your butcher to do this, but remember to ask them to bag up the extra bones and fat as you’ll need them for the next step.
Once the half chickens are ready, place the braising pan over high heat and start rendering the chicken trims, which includes the rib cage, the spine, and any fatty parts you’ve chosen to cut off.
After about eight minutes, the chicken trims should be nicely browned signalling that it’s time to start roasting the garlic, ginger and onions together in the braising pan (with the sizzling chicken bits).
Once everything is caramelized, add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a simmer.
Gently drop the half chickens into the simmering marinade, laying them flat in the pan. Chef Chin recommends placing a round parchment paper on the surface of the braising chicken to keep it submerged. Leave the birds to cook in a simmering bath (set to around 170°C) for two and a half hours.
Once chicken is braised (it should feel tender and juicy), let it cool on a tray that is lined with a wire rack.
Place 400 millilitres of the marinade into a new sauce pot and reduce into a glaze. “You want a shiny, thick, glossy soy glaze towards the end,” says Chin.
Preheat the oven to 385°F. Glaze the chicken on the wire rack and bake for 8 for 10 minutes. Continue to glaze the chicken once it comes out of the oven until the chicken is shiny and well roasted.

More Chef Artois Episodes and Recipes

Part 01How to make Chef Ramon Simarro’s seafood paella

“Chef Artois”—the eight-episode culinary miniseries produced by Toronto Life and Stella Artois—just wrapped up. If you weren’t following along, it’s not too late to catch the cook-off action. We’ve made it easy to binge the whole season. Here, you’ll find links to each of our bite-sized, 12-minute episodes. On “Chef Artois” the contestants have to scramble against the clock while recreating Toronto’s most iconic dishes without a recipe. Now, we’re inviting you to try making these dishes at...