To recapture the calm, light, sweet, honey smell that warms the kitchen as the meaty chicken drummettes bake, I tried the recipe twice thus far and can’t wait to use it again!
Here are links to my two trials of a chicken recipe using honey:
I came across a chicken recipe by luck as I was searching for a Japanese one.
My Story
As usual, I was searching for quick and easy recipes to try. Since I already had quite a few Chinese recipes, I was going through some Japanese ones this time.
Inspiring Recipe
Chicken drummettes are enjoyable to eat, so I selected the Honey Soy Chicken recipe from Just One Cookbook to test out. Before starting the preparation in the kitchen, all I had to do was buy the chicken. The rest of the ingredients were already in my cabinet!
First Try
Here we go…
Ingredients to Use
To match the weight of the drummettes that I bought, I increased the servings for this recipe from three to five (from 1.5 to 2.5 lbs of drummettes). Why not have extra pieces left to feed someone’s hunger or use in a future meal?
The other thing I changed was substitute sake with Chinese cooking rice wine since that was what I had.
Steps to Prepare
I followed all the steps in the recipe from Just One Cookbook to prepare the chicken for baking. (The suggestion to keep the measuring cup upside down to get all of the honey into the bag was ingenious!) After marinating the drummettes for one hour, they were ready to go into the oven.
Time to Eat
The chicken shrunk, but they’re ready for tasting:
Recipe Rating
Here are the results of the recipe:
| # of Ingredients | Effort | $ / Serving | Try Again? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 |  |  | |
Second Try
Based on the first attempt, I wanted to complement the sweet smell of honey from the dish, so I used a less salty soy sauce this time.
Ingredients to Use
In addition to the soy sauce switch, I doubled the servings of chicken in the recipe, from 3 to 6 (1.5 to 3 lbs) to ensure we had enough for dinner.
Steps to Prepare
Last time, I marinated the drummettes for one hour, but this time, I increased it to 4.5 hours since I had plenty of time before they needed to be served.
Time to Eat
The deeper color of the chicken from the dark soy sauce certainly made the dish more appetizing!
Recipe Rating
With the salty taste from the original soy sauce gone, here are the updated results of the recipe:
| # of Ingredients | Effort | $ / Serving | Try Again? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | | | |
I really enjoyed the lingering soy sauce smell from the second attempt of making the chicken. Next time, I would like more of this soy sauce taste as well, so I will do the following:
Continuous Improvement
- Marinate the chicken longer, e.g., for 6-8 hours.
As I started smelling the chicken during the first baking process, I realized the following:
Lesson for Dumber Self
- I love the warm scent of honey!
What will you do now?
Next Step for You
- Try the Honey Soy Chicken recipe from Just One Cookbook?
- Share with us your favorite recipe with honey?
- Read another post on this site? (Go to the menu at the top of the page.)
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