Tag Archives: Chicken thighs

Recipes - Entrees

Chicken Long Rice

One of my favorite Hawaiian dishes.  Traditionally found on all lu’au plates, Chicken Long Rice, is rich with broth containing four ingredients: the broth, chopped onion, chopped cooked chicken, and broken threads of soaked long rice.  If only I had poi, I would indeed feel I was enjoying a neighbor’s backyard lu’au table!

Even though long rice is one of the main ingredients, and because I don’t have Kalua Pork, Poi, or Lomi Salmon, I made this dish my entree tonight and served it over a bed of short-grain rice.  That means double the rice for this haole girl and so ono and satisfying it is!  I like my long rice served with plenty of broth and two kinds of onion: round onion for flavor in the broth and green onion for garnish on individual servings.

This recipe, found in my “Missouri to Maui” cookbook has a quick prep and since today I used chicken breast tenderloins, prep time was quicker by 30 minutes.  Chicken thighs are listed on my cookbook recipe and they work  well too.  Drain the chicken if using thighs, cool, remove the skin and bones and shred or chop well.

Cook your rice on the side, in your rice cooker if you have one, while the long rice dish sets and mellows for 30 minutes then spoon the long rice mixture over the rice in your bowl, garnish with snipped green onion tops and enjoy!  This dish is hearty with flavor that will remind you of homemade haole-style chicken noodle soup, and you will find that it will please your every taste bud.  Aloha!

Chicken Long Rice

Ingredients

1-(8 oz.) pkg. long rice
8 pieces chicken thighs
2 quarts water
2 T. salt
1-1/2 T. ginger root, grated
1 medium round onion, chopped
5 chicken bouillon cubes
1 tablespoon Hondashi
2 cans chicken broth
3 stalks green onions, chopped

Directions Soak long rice in a bowl of water for 20 minutes then cut 3-4” lengths; set aside. Place chicken in a large pot; add the water, salt, and ginger and bring to a boil. Skim off excess fat, lower heat and simmer for about 40 minutes. Remove from heat and remove chicken, reserving broth. When chicken has cooled enough, remove skin and bones and shred or chop the chicken; set aside.

To the saved broth, add the chopped onion, bouillon cubes, Hondashi and the chicken broth in saucepan. Bring to a boil and add long rice. Lower heat and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let stand for 30 minutes. Stir in chicken and heat briefly. Before serving, garnish with the green onion.

Cook’s Note: Hondashi is a Japanese seasoning.  If you can’t find it, you can use additional chicken bouillon cubes.

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Recipes - Entrees

Shoyu Chicken

One of our most popular daily specials at Kete-Yama’s Cafe, on Maui, and still a dish that I get cravings for, especially on rainy days such as this one in Missouri today. Ready in just 45 minutes, this filling and tasty dish, flavored with shoyu (soy sauce for mainland folks), is a popular dish in Hawai’i and one which mainland cooks can easily prepare at home.  If you are using less chicken thighs than the 12 pieces listed in my “Missouri to Maui” cookbook, adjust the broth ingredients.  The broth is meant for adjusting to your own liking so don’t be afraid to taste it and tinker some until you are satisfied.

Hardly any prep: only chop an onion, a few garlic cloves, and peel a 1″ slice of fresh ginger root and you’re ready to cook! Start with the water and sugar and the seasonings then taste your broth. If it is too sour, add more sugar, if too sweet, add more shoyu. If it’s just right (and it probably will be), add the chicken thighs and allow the meat to simmer in the broth. That’s it; all pau!

Hawaiian style Shoyu Chicken is traditionally served with both rice and macaroni salad, but today I am making do with just a pot of my favorite short-grain rice. Short-grain rice is much “stickier” than the long-grain rice which is more common on the mainland and it is perfect with any dish that has sauce or gravy (or any dish at all for local Hawaiian folks and myself).  Layer the chicken and a good amount of broth over a bed of rice in your bowl and sprinkle with green onion pieces. You’ll feel like you’re visiting the islands.  Aloha!

Shoyu Chicken

Ingredients:

2 cups shoyu (soy sauce)
2 cups water
1- 1″ piece ginger root, peeled
1 clove crushed garlic
1 small chopped onion
1 cup sugar
12 bone-in chicken thighs; remove skin if desired

Directions: Place the shoyu, water, ginger root, garlic, onion, and sugar in a large sauce pot. Heat slowly until the sugar dissolves. If the broth tastes sour, then add more sugar, if too salty, add more sugar or water. If the sauce tastes good, then add the chicken and simmer 45 minutes. The liquid ingredients should thicken into a very tasty sauce for serving over rice.

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Recipes - Entrees

Paprika Chicken Thighs with Brussels Sprouts

Although this dish from my “Missouri to Maui” cookbook is a good choice for any day, it is an especially great choice for a very cold and snowy day! My original Plan A was to prepare this dish yesterday but once the weather man mentioned we could expect 3-6″ of snow today, I switched to Plan B.  What could warm a snowy day more than paprika-seasoned chicken and roasted Brussels sprouts?  I cooked a pot of my treasured short-grain rice to accompany this dish though you might find mashed potatoes or a loaf of crusty French bread most enjoyable sides as well.

This dish has hardly any prep at all.  Only trim the stem ends of your Brussels sprouts and halve them, or quarter them if they are very large, mince the garlic and slice a lemon and you’re practically there! Today I cut the sprouts in half since the chicken thighs were very large and I didn’t want the sprouts to finish roasting before the chicken.   Make the seasoning  early and rub it on the chicken so that it has time to thoroughly flavor the meat and then pop all in the oven for 30-45 minutes and you’re done.  If you use smaller thighs, they will need less time.  Today, I let everything roast for 45 minutes.

My local market doesn’t carry shallots so I substituted an onion; I used Hungarian paprika which is more on the hot (and not the sweet) side and it provided the tang in this dish along with the slices of fresh lemon.  Both flavors complement the sprouts; the chicken roasts up in the seasoning rub, resulting in the most tender and flavorful pieces.  There is enough olive oil on both the sprouts and in the rub so that you have plenty of juice to flavor either rice or mashed potatoes if you prefer them. The recipe offers a great alternative to boiling or steaming the sprouts and the seasonings produce sprouts bursting with flavor.  This is definitely a one-pot meal with the cook needing only to prepare a salad or starchy side dish for a well-rounded, delicious, supper.  You will find that is warming  and flavorful and really perfect for a late winter snow day!

Paprika Chicken Thighs with Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

1 lb. Brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved (quartered, if large)
4 small shallots, quartered if available; if not, use a medium onion, chopped
1 lemon, sliced
3 T. olive oil, divided
3/4 tsp. salt, divided
1/2 tsp. pepper, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. smoked paprika, sweet or hot
1 tsp. dried thyme
4 large, or 8 small, bone-in chicken thighs (2-1/2 lbs.), skin removed

Directions Preheat oven to 450, positioning rack in lower third of oven. Combine Brussel sprouts, shallots (or onion, chopped), and lemon with 1 T. oil and 1/4 tsp. each of salt and pepper on a large rimmed baking sheet such as a jelly roll pan. Mash garlic and the remaining 1/2 tsp. salt with the side of a large knife to form a paste. Combine this garlic paste with the paprika, thyme, the remaining 1 T. oil and 1/4 tsp. pepper in a small bowl. Rub the paste all over the chicken. Nestle the chicken in among the Brussel sprouts. Roast on the lower rack until the Brussel sprouts are tender and the chicken thorough cooked, at least 20-25 minutes. Pierce chicken with a fork; if the juices run clear, it is finished. The Brussel sprouts will brown, roasting as they bake.

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