Chinese BBQ

One of my pantry staples is a chinese barbecue sauce that is made almost entirely from other pantry ingredients. This sauce is sweet, spicy and garlicky, and goes equally well on ribs as it does on chicken. I've made it so many times, that I don't actually measure ingredients anymore, but over the weekend, I took the time to measure amounts so that I could tell them to you. Here goes:

Chinese BBQ Sauce
6 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (more or less to taste)
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbs rice wine vinegar (cider, sherry or other is ok)
1 bottle hoisin sauce (20oz or so)
1/3 cup soy sauce (I use some dark and some light)
2 tsps honey
1 tbsp sesame oil

Saute the garlic and pepper in canola until fragrant and starting to brown. Add vinegar and bring to a boil. Add next 3 ingredients and simmer until sauce thickens to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and wisk in the sesame oil.

Last night, Phineas and I made a bunch of chicken wings to go with Monday night football. Just cook the wings either on a grill or under the broiler until nearly done. Slather on sauce for the last few minutes of cooking, and you are ready to dig in!



And then today, leftovers became part of a bento lunch with fried rice, bok choi (hidden under wings) and cucumber.