This easy Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken recipe features soy sauce, ginger and garlic for chicken that is juicy, sweet and salty. Pair it with Perfect White Rice and Hawaiian Mac Salad.
A Word on Tea
If you aren’t familiar with Pure Leaf Iced Tea, you might wonder why I love it so much. Pure Leaf is *real* brewed Iced Tea – as in, made from actual tea leaves – which is why it tastes so darn good. If you love tea as much as I do, you know that you can’t fake the taste of the real thing.
I was so happy when I found Pure Leaf, and when I started looking into things I found out just why it tastes so good: they don’t use any preservatives, and start with all the finest ingredients to create that perfectly balanced taste.
Okay, now tell me about the Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken!
I know, I know! On to the recipe and the sweet and salty and tender deliciousness that is this shoyu chicken.
What does shoyu mean? I’m glad you asked. Shoyu is a Japanese word for soy sauce that was borrowed by the Hawaiians and that soy sauce adds saltiness and umami to the chicken in this dish.
What to serve with Shoyu Chicken?
I wanted to come up with a recipe that would pair perfectly with some delicious sweet Iced Tea, and Hawaiian food sounded too good to be true.
The Shoyu marinade pairs wonderfully with white rice as it sops up that great flavor. If you need help use this method to make perfect rice the easy way.
It also goes well with Hawaiian Mac Salad.
The husband is something of a macaroni-salad aficionado, so I’ve been looking for a chance to perfect my Hawaiian Mac Salad recipe, too (oh, I totally rocked it by the way!).
I think the thing I love most about this chicken shoyu recipe is how easy it is to remember. No kidding, every ingredient called for is just 1 of something.
One pound each of boneless chicken thighs and breasts, 1 cup soy sauce, 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, etc. Plus, it cooks for just 1 hour. SO easy to memorize!
All of the ingredients are super standard freezer/pantry staples, so you can make this without having to make an extra trip to the grocery store.
It’s best if you marinate it overnight, but if just can’t make that happen you can still make it without marinating.
Oh, and people swear it takes better as leftovers the second day, so don’t worry about making too much!
Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger - chopped
- 1 clove garlic - minced
- Dash red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a large Dutch oven. Place in refrigerator overnight or for at least six hours.
- Transfer Dutch oven to the stove top and bring contents to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low, cover, and let simmer for 1 hour.
- Remove chicken from pot and place on a cutting board.
- Strain the ginger and garlic out of the pot, then bring the sauce to a boil over medium heat and cook until reduced by half. Turn off heat and let cool fifteen minutes.
- Meanwhile, use two forks to shred chicken into bite-sized pieces. Return chicken to the pot and toss with sauce. Serve warm.
Nutrition
Holy cow. 25 grams of sugar a day is the recommended allotment for women. This is 34 grams… in just one meal. Is there any way to cut the sugar while still keeping the flavor? I”m wondering if you do 1/2 cup of everything, but cook it in the slow cooker to let it marinate more, would that work?
Hi Erin,
I think you can cut the sugar and soy sauce in half and then add another 1/2 cup of water and it should still taste good, but be a little less sweet and salty. I would leave the other ingredients the same.
– Linda