Local style Hawaiian shoyu chicken is Hawaii’s comfort food! Chicken simmers in a flavorful shoyu base with garlic and ginger until incredibly tender with sweet and savory flavors. Serve shoyu chicken with white rice and creamy mac salad for a truly “ono” Hawaiian style plate lunch!
Growing up in Hawaii, I ate my weight in shoyu poke and cucumber kimchi, but when I am craving Hawaiian comfort food, it’s always sweet and savory shoyu chicken!
Shoyu chicken is easy and quick and uses a handful of pantry staples. You’ll find shoyu chicken all over Hawaii! Everywhere from local plate lunch spots and restaurants, to family recipes and potlucks and even in the hot food section of grocery stores. Shoyu chicken is truly a Hawaii local favorite!
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🤙 Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
- Shoyu chicken is quick to put together and easy enough to make on a weeknight!
- Uses every day pantry staples, such as shoyu, brown sugar and garlic.
- Simple with lots of flavors! Sweet, savory, salty and aromatic!
- You can’t really mess up shoyu chicken! Chopped or crushed garlic, sliced or chopped ginger, add it in and it will still be delicious or as we say, “ono”!
🧄 Ingredients
Shoyu chicken is one of those recipes where you use what you have. But if you want the real deal, use Aloha Shoyu! It’s one of the popular shoyu brands used all throughout Hawaii and especially in shoyu chicken.
- Chicken Thighs: Both skinless and skin on chicken thighs can be used and bone in or boneless thighs. If using boneless chicken thighs, reduce the cooking time by a few minutes
- Shoyu: Shoyu is Japanese soy sauce and Aloha Shoyu is a brand of soy space that is often used in shoyu chicken. Shoyu is milder and a little sweeter than other styles of soy sauce.
- Ginger: Not much prep is needed, just slice the fresh ginger and add it to the shoyu mixture.
- Garlic: You can either chop, slice or smash the garlic cloves and add it right into the shoyu mixture to infuse.
- Water: Because there is a lot of shoyu being used in the recipe, water is important so the sauce doesn’t get too salty. As the chicken cooks in the sauce, it will reduce and become saltier, so water is an important ingredient in this recipe.
- Brown Sugar: Shoyu chicken is known to have a sweet and savory flavor and a little brown sugar is added to add a layer of sweetness. You can also use honey or regular sugar is brown sugar isn’t available.
- Green Onions: Add 1 chopped green onion to the shoyu broth and another for garnish.
- Corn Starch: This is optional, but if your sauce is too thin, add a teaspoon of cornstarch to thicken the sauce up a bit.
See recipe card for quantities.
⏲️ Instructions
Assemble and Cook
- In medium sized pot, add the shoyu, water, brown sugar, sliced ginger, chopped garlic and green onion and stir to combine. This is a good time to taste and adjust as needed.
- Add the chicken to the shoyu mixture and bring up to a low boil. Continue cooking the chicken for 35-45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
Broil Chicken (Optional)
- Once the chicken is done, remove the chicken to a foil lined baking sheet and place the chicken skin side up.
- Place the chicken under the broiler for 2-3 minutes to crisp up the skin. Keep an eye on it and make sure it’s not burning too quickly.
Thicken Sauce
- If shoyu sauce is thin, whisk cornstarch and some of the hot shoyu broth in a bowl and add back to the shoyu mixture. Continue cooking on a simmer until the sauce slightly thickens.
- Once the chicken is done, spoon the chickened shoyu sauce on top of the chicken and serve.
Variations
Shoyu Chicken is highly customizable. Here is a few ideas to change it up a bit.
- Spicy: Add 1-2 teaspoons of sriracha or sambal for extra spice in the sauce or serve once it’s cooked.
- Grilled: Not exactly traditional, but use the same marinade and grill the chicken on a grill or in a grill pan.
- Slow Cooker: Cook shoyu chicken in the slow cooker on low for 5-6 hours until the chicken is tender. Then place the chicken, skin side up under the broiler to crisp up the skin.
FAQ
Shoyu chicken has ingredients of ginger, garlic, brown sugar and shoyu, giving it both a salty, savory and slightly sweet flavor.
Yes, add the chicken and the shoyu mixture to the slow cooker and cook on low for 5-6 hours, until the chicken is cooked through. Then place the chicken, skin side up under the broiler to crisp up, if desired.
How to Serve Shoyu Chicken
In Hawaii, you’ll find shoyu chicken just about everywhere! Serve chicken on top of cooked white rice, with macaroni salad on the side and a green salad.
More Hawaiian Recipes to Try
Hawaiian Shoyu Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken thighs bone in, skin on
- 3/4 cup shoyu
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 inch piece of ginger sliced
- 3 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 green onion chopped + more for garnish
- Cooked white rice for serving
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry very well and remove any excess fat or skin, if necessary.
- In medium sized pot, add the shoyu, water, brown sugar, sliced ginger, chopped garlic and green onion and stir to combine. This is a good time to taste and adjust as needed.
- Add the chicken to the shoyu mixture and bring up to a low boil. Continue cooking the chicken for 35-45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
- Once the chicken is done, remove to a foil lined baking sheet and place chicken skin side up.
- Place the chicken under the broiler for 2-3 minutes to crisp up the skin. Keep an eye on it and make sure it’s not burning too quickly.
- Meanwhile, if shoyu sauce is thin, whisk cornstarch and some of the hot shoyu broth in a bowl and add back to the shoyu mixture. Continue cooking on a simmer until the sauce slightly thickens.
- Once the chicken is done, plate the chicken on top of cooked white rice and spoon thickened shoyu sauce on top of the chicken. Garnish with chopped green onions and serve.
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