hawaiian chicken

At a family reunion on Mr. Improv's side, I met his cousin-in-law over a pot of her homemade Hawaiian chicken. A Hawaiian native, she grew up making this classic dish the right way (i.e. - don't ask what's in it, just pretend you're on vacation - calories on vacation don't count, right?). No joke, cousin-in-law Kelly didn't give me measurements, so I pass the recipe on to you just as I received it in grandma's kitchen that day. Please, attempt to work within all this ambiguity. For you rule-followers who simply can't handle not having a single measurement, I've given loose measurements at the bottom. It's just so much more fun to make it without measuring!


For regular family dinners, I cut the sugar & teriyaki sauce in half. For guests, I make it the way Kelly does, straight from the islands. Make extra and serve up with white rice and some aloha.

Oh, and this is from Kelly, not me: "Don't use chicken breasts. Just don't. They dry out. If you must, use skin-on breasts." If you don't obey Kelly, I won't tell on you, but I might say "I told you so."

bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (how much? doesn't really matter)
granulated sugar
teriyaki sauce
fresh ginger, minced

1. Place the chicken in a crockpot or large soup pot.
2. Pour in enough sugar to cover chicken 1/2 way up.
3. Pour in enough teriyaki to almost cover chicken; add ginger.
4. Pour in enough water to just barely cover chicken.
5. Cook in crockpot on low for 6 hours, on high for 3-4 hours, or on the stove: bring to boil; reduce heat to meduim-low and cook for 1 hour.
*meat should fall off bones when it's done.

For the rule-followers:
3-4 pounds bone-on, skin-on chicken thighs
3-4 cups granulated sugar
5-6 cups teriyaki
2 T fresh minced ginger
1-2 cups water