How do you grill out when you don't have a grill? It's a sad question that finally has an answer. These smokey thighs are delicious on their own, but they are over the top with this miso bbq sauce. Make this when you're craving a cookout.
Prep Time: Cook Time: Serves:
20 Minutes + Brine 25 Minutes 3-4 people
Smoky Chicken Thighs
2lb chicken thigh
1 liter water
15g wrights liquid smoke - hickory
15g liquid amino
20g sugar
20g salt
Red Miso BBQ Sauce
Cabbage Slaw
Corn Relish
Step 1: Brine The Chicken
To achieve the smoky flavor that really defines a good cookout, you'll need to brine the chicken thigh in a salty smokey liquid. For the brine, add 1 liter of water to a large container. Add 15g of liquid smoke, 15g of liquid aminos, 20g of salt, and 20g of sugar. Mix this together until the sugar and salt have fully dissolved, and add 2lbs of boneless skinless chicken thigh. The thighs are the perfect cut for this because they’ll stay juicy in the high temps of the oven. Make sure they are all evenly covered and this can go in the fridge for at least 4 hours, but upwards to 12 if you want a really smoky flavor.
Step 2: BBQ Sauce
Start by grating a quarter of a white onion on a box grater. Grate 2 cloves of garlic on a microplane and gather up all of the rest of the ingredients for the sauce. To a sauce pan over medium heat, add in a little cooking oil and then plop in your grated onions. Let those begin to sweat until you start to see a little bit of color. Add in your garlic and cook that for another minute, just until they’re fragrant and soft. Now add 50ml of water just to deglaze and cool the pan off a little. Add in ketchup, soy sauce, sriracha, rice vinegar, and sugar. Bring this whole thing up to a simmer. Let this cook for a few minutes just until it’s thickened slightly. Pour this into a blender with 50g of red miso and let this rip until smooth. Pour it back into the pan just to reduce it one final time. Pour a little water into the blender and mix it around just to make sure you get every drop. Heat this on medium and taste if for final seasoning, this should be nice and punchy, salty, sweet, rich, perfect for some chicken thigh. Store this in a container in the fridge for when we need it later.
Step 3: Corn Relish
In a container, mix together mayo, minced shallot, grated garlic, and some diced pepperoncini. These bring a little acidity and spice without being overpowering. Add ketchup, dijon mustard, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, sugar, pepper, and finely chopped parsley. You may be thinking to yourself, dang that sounds a lot like a complicated burger sauce, and that’s because it pretty much is exactly that. This stuff is sweet, a little tangy, creamy, and will take our roasted corn to the next level. For the corn itself, heat a skillet over medium high until nice and hot, then add in a little cooking oil along with the 150g of frozen sweet corn. You could use fresh corn from the cob, but I always keep bags of corn in the freezer and you most likely won’t notice the difference when it’s covered in the sauce. Add in a diced jalapeno and season this with salt. Toss the corn to evenly coat everything in the salt and then just leave it on that side to char slightly. Once you see charring, you can toss it again, but this doesn’t take long to cook at all. Remove the corn from the pan and let it cool before adding the remoulade. Combine it all until totally coated and store it in the fridge. This can easily be scaled to massive amounts depending on how much you need to make.
Step 4: Cabbage Slaw
This is the classic cabbage and carrot slaw just made really really well. Take half a head of cabbage and finely slice it. You could do this with a knife, but this is an occasion that I find it really helpful to use a mandolin if you have one. Wash and finely shred 2 carrots and add that in with the cabbage. Finely slice a quarter of a white onion and add that in. Season this with salt and rice vinegar, and i really like to. Squeeze this with the salt and vinegar to make sure everything is covered and the cabbage wilts slightly. Add in the smallest amount of mayo, literally like a few small squeezes and a little sesame oil is nice as well. Mix this together and you've got a near perfect slaw.
Step 5: Broil The Chicken
Remove your chicken from the brine and place it on a wire rack over a sheet tray. Dry the excess brine from the outside of the meat so the browning can begin quicker. Pour a little water into the tray itself just to keep the tray from burning. Place your oven on low broil (or just broil if yours only has one option) and place your tray on a rack close to the heating element. You’re gonna cook this in intervals of a couple of minutes so that both sides will get nice and brown. Depending on the heat of your element, you’ll want to go 1-3 minutes and then flip. It’s a little bit of effort, but you’d be doing a similar amount of sitting at the grill. Once you see the chicken is cooked, roughly 15 minutes of cook time, you can start glazing on the bbq sauce. Use a brush to ensure even coating on both sides, and place this back under the broiler to tack onto the meat. The sugar should get a little caramelized, but but be sure to not let it burn. Continue glazing until it’s sauced to your preference and then you’re ready to chow down. Get yourself a plate and lay down some slaw, add on your chicken, and then top it with the corn relish. This whole thing tastes like an upgraded summer night. It’s smoky, yet a little refined. Grab a cold one, and enjoy watching the sunset.
Cheers!
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