BBQ Chicken

I have been very well behaved lately. I no longer buy ingredients on impulse. But there is a downside to this so called good practice. Like when I attempted Chef Wan's Texan BBQ Chicken.

The recipe calls for 500ml of tomato ketchup for 12 chicken drumsticks. I bought 6 chicken legs and I assume that since I have 12 pieces of chicken (if I separated the drumstick and thigh), I should be able to follow the recipe to a tee.

I had a bottle of tomato ketchup in the fridge and when I emptied the contents into my measuring jug, I had only about 200ml. I went to my pantry, hoping to find another bottle. Nope, there was none. In the past, you can bet that there would be another two bottles at my disposal. Hoarding can actually be good.

Then I thought, why not add some chili sauce. I opened the fridge and I discovered that I also ran out of chili sauce. And yes, you guessed it, there was none in the pantry either. 

But I did have a bottle of tomato paste in the fridge. There was about 2 tablespoons of it and I thought, why not? So I added tomato paste to the ketchup together with all the other ingredients. It seemed to work out quite well. A good thing too, because I used up all my tomato paste.

The chicken pieces were marinated for about 6 hours after which the chicken was removed and the marinade simmered until thick. 

The chicken was then basted with the thickened marinade. I thought that I had too much marinade but I used almost all of it to baste the chicken.

The original recipe is called Texan BBQ Chicken and since I deviated from the recipe, I shall just call it BBQ chicken. Just in case any Texan happens to read this.

BBQ Chicken

Recipe source : Simply Sedap by Chef Wan (page 110)

Ingredients :

- 6 chicken whole legs

For marinade :
- 200ml tomato ketchup (or use 400ml and omit tomato paste)

- 2 tbsp tomato paste 

- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

- 4 tbsp brown sugar

- 2 tbsp chopped shallots

- 1 tbsp Tabasco sauce

Note : Taste the marinade and adjust accordingly

Method :
1. Mix all the marinade ingredients.
2. In a freezer bag or mixing bowl, combine chicken legs and the marinade. Leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.
3. Before roasting, bring the chicken legs to room temperature.
4. Remove the chicken legs from the marinade and arrange in a single layer on a lined baking tray.
5. Pour the marinade into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and stir every now and then until the marinade thickens.
6. Roast the chicken legs at 180C for about 45 minutes and baste the chicken with the marinade. Turn the chicken pieces every now and then and continue to baste. Roast until fully cooked.