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Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken

🌸🍗👏🏻Chicken thighs are braised in a sweet and savory sauce made with soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger, and more to create the most FLAVORFUL and tender chicken! It’s an EASY, one-pot stovetop chicken recipe that cooks in about 30 minutes. When you need a unique but simple chicken dinner recipe, try this one - you may even feel like you just took a trip to the Hawaiian islands!

Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
5 mins
Servings: 6
Calories: 325 kcal
Course: Main Course , Dinner
Cuisine: Asian , Hawaiian

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (5 or 6 chicken thighs)
  • 1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
  • ¾ cup reduced sodium or lite soy sauce
  • ½ cup light brown sugar packed
  • ⅓ cup mirin
  • ¼ cup rice vinegar (sometimes labeled rice wine vinegar, same thing)
  • 3 to 4 cloves garlic finely minced
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger OR 1 1/2 teaspoons dried ginger
  • 3 tablespoons water
  • 3 tablespoon cornstarch
  • ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes or to taste
  • Thinly sliced green onions (or sesame seeds) optional for garnishing
  • salt and pepper to taste if desired

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Place the chicken in the Dutch oven or skillet with the skin side up; set aside briefly.
  2. To a small bowl, add the broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, mirin, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, whisk to combine, and evenly pour the mixture over the chicken.
  3. Bring to a boil over high heat and after the liquid boils, turn the heat to medium-low or low, and simmer for about 30 minutes, flipping chicken over once midway through cooking (or braising as it's technically called, meaning using a liquid and cooking more slowly over lower heat). Cooking Tips - I recommend cooking dark meat (thighs) until a digital thermometer reads 170-175F. I recommend using a thermometer and not guessing. Thighs are tougher than breasts/white meat so cooking them to a higher temperature compared to the 165F for white helps to tenderize dark meat.
  4. After thighs are done, remove them from the skillet, and place on a plate momentarily. Keep the cooking liquids in the bottom of the skillet.
  5. In a small bowl, stir together the water and cornstarch to make a slurry.
  6. Add the slurry to the liquid in the bottom of the skillet, add the red pepper flakes, stir to combine, and heat over medium to medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce begins to bubble lightly and thicken. Stir nearly continuously. Sauce Tips - The point of the slurry is to thicken the cooking juices to form a thicker, more condensed sauce that will stick to the chicken. Sauce always seems thinner/runnier when it's still in the pot, and still warm or hot, and always thickens and tightens up as it cools. Therefore, don't be too worried if it's not getting super tight, it doesn't need to.
  7. Add the chicken back into the pot, flip it over a few times and toss it around to coat it on all sides with the sauce.
  8. Optionally, evenly garnish with green onions (or sesame seeds).
  9. Salt and Pepper - Because I didn't call for any additional salt or pepper in this recipe since there's salt in many ingredients (broth, soy sauce, mirin), you may or may not want to season with salt at the end, depending on if your products were reduced/lite/lower sodium or not, and your general preference for salt. The same goes for pepper, the red pepper flakes may or may not be sufficient, depending on your preferences. If the dish tastes at all flat or boring, it'll benefit for a bit of both salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
  10. Storage - Leftovers will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat gently in the microwave or as desired.

Nutrition Information

Serving 1piece Calories 325kcal (16%) Carbohydrates 30g (10%) Protein 27g (54%) Fat 11g (17%) Saturated Fat 3g (15%) Polyunsaturated Fat 1g Monounsaturated Fat 4g Trans Fat 0.1g Cholesterol 78mg (26%) Sodium 1802mg (75%) Potassium 517mg (15%) Fiber 0.3g (1%) Sugar 21g (42%) Vitamin A 32IU (1%) Vitamin C 0.5mg (1%) Calcium 48mg (5%) Iron 2mg (11%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 6Serving

Amount Per Serving

Calories 325

% Daily Value*

Serving 1piece
Calories 325kcal 16%
Carbohydrates 30g 10%
Protein 27g 54%
Fat 11g 17%
Saturated Fat 3g 15%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g 6%
Monounsaturated Fat 4g 20%
Trans Fat 0.1g 5%
Cholesterol 78mg 26%
Sodium 1802mg 75%
Potassium 517mg 11%
Fiber 0.3g 1%
Sugar 21g 42%
Vitamin A 32IU 1%
Vitamin C 0.5mg 1%
Calcium 48mg 5%
Iron 2mg 11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.