Hawaiian Huli-Huli Chicken

The Ingredients (for 4 servings):

• 1 whole chicken weighing approximately 2 kg (or 4½ lb)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 140 g (or ½ cup) of salt
•  2 sprigs of thyme
• 20 g (or 1 tablespoon) of cracked black peppercorns
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 30 g (or 2 tablespoons) of fresh ginger
• 1 lemon (preferably a Meyer lemon)
• 80 ml (or ⅓ cup) of dark soy sauce
• 60 ml (or ¼ cup) of cooking sherry
• 30 ml (or 1 tablespoon) of sesame oil
• Stevia equivalent of 65 g (or ⅓ cup) of sugar
• 90 ml (or 3 tablespoons) of ketchup
• 90 ml (or 3 tablespoons) of chili sauce or cayenne sauce
• 5 g (or 1 tablespoon) of freshly ground black pepper

The Method:

1. Two days prior to cooking the chicken, peel four garlic cloves and crush them with a small tenderizer or the side of a knife.
2. Bring to the boil a sufficient volume of water to cover the chicken completely in a bowl, for brining overnight.
3. Add the salt, thyme, peppercorns, and crushed cloves of garlic to the boiling water, and turn off the heat. Stir until all the salt is dissolved.
4. Allow the brine solution to cool to room temperature.
5. Wash the chicken thoroughly and place it in a bowl that accommodates it snugly.
6. Pour in the cooled brine solution and stir gently to distribute the herbs and seasonings evenly. Press the air out of the chicken's cavity.
7. Cover the bowl with a fitted lid or an air-tight plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 24 hours.
8. One day prior to cooking the chicken, discard the brine and replace the chicken in the bowl.
9. Make the marinade by first peeling 3 cloves of garlic and the ginger, and passing them through a garlic press or mincing them finely.
10. Wash the lemon and use a grater or zester to remove the zest and mince it finely.
11. Add together the dark soy sauce, sherry, sesame oil, stevia, ketchup, chili or cayenne sauce, black pepper, garlic, ginger, and lemon zest.
12. Mix the marinade ingredients thoroughly and pour the mixture over the chicken in the bowl, making sure it is thoroughly coated inside and out, and that the chicken is submerged as completely as possible.
13. Cover the bowl with its lid or an air-tight plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 24 hours.
14. Soak two cedar planks for grilling in a tub of water for 24 hours.
15. About 3 hours before you intend to serve the chicken, light the barbecue, using a single layer of coals.
16. When the coals are evenly hot, push them to the sides of the barbecue and place a pie-pan full of water in the center.
17. Place the cedar planks across the grilling rack, and position the chicken on top, reserving the marinade for basting.
18. Cover the grill, and leave all vents open.
19. Barbecue the chicken for two hours over this low, moist heat, basting several times and turning the chicken once or twice.
20. This chicken can alternatively be roasted at 175°C (or 350°F) for 1½ hours in the oven, and I have done it this way. It is still a tasty dish, but does not have the smoky barbecue flavor of the cedar-plank version.

The Story:

There is no standard huli-huli marinade; rather, each cook has his or her own mixture. This one borrows largely from a recipe on epicurious.com, with substitutions that I tinkered with over time and came up with the version above. Four of us who had this particular chicken last night agreed it was unbeatable. Thanks to J, who expertly barbecued for us.





"Huli-huli" in Hawaiian means to turn repeatedly, implying that huli-huli chicken is properly cooked on a spit. In fact most people cook chicken parts on a barbecue. It's common to see people set up a barbecue under an awning by the roadside and put out a hand-lettered sign advertising huli-huli chicken. Even our local supermarket sports a huli-huli barbecue grill in the parking lot.