To make Asian chicken marinade I used the all-time-favorite and a crowd-pleaser Chicken Thigh Marinade as the base. Not that it needed any tweaking, but I wanted to take advantage of some of the ingredients that represent the essence of Asian cuisine. Ginger and garlic are the two ingredients that are integral to Asian cooking. I used garlic quite generously in the chicken thigh marinade, with great results, but did not use ginger. This recipe takes care of that oversight. The unique tang of fresh ginger balances out the pungent flavor of garlic and the result is a more balanced, more complete chicken marinade.
Another Asian cooking ingredient I wanted to take advantage of is dark soy sauce. I’ve used it successfully to make Thai Red BBQ Pork, Grilled Chicken Wings and Bulgogi-Style Chicken Wings to name a few. The dark soy sauce is thicker and is often used for braising and slow cooking. Anytime a recipe calls for cooking a dish where the soy sauce is added early in the recipe, be it marinating, rubbing on the meat or cooking in a clay pot, dark soy is used.
In this recipe I use a combination of dark and low sodium soy sauces. Dark soy sauce lends the food sweetness, beautiful color, and flavor. The low sodium soy sauce provides flavor and saltiness.
