DAVID WOODS: This marinated chicken dish is perfect for barbecue season

If you start the barbecue season just opting for burgers and sausages, you will soon get bored.

Why not kick start your grilling days with a marinated chicken dish that will assault the taste buds and hopefully inspire you to be more experimental this summer?

Cooking chicken on a barbecue can be risky, often leading to charcoaled skin but raw centres.

So, I recommend starting the chicken portions in the oven and then finishing them on the hot grill which will give the skin a lovely glaze. It’s not cheating, but a sensible way of avoiding food poisoning.

And if you are ringing the changes with the meat for the barbecue, do the same with the salad.

This Asian-style salad adds a wonderful crunch that will complement the sticky sweetness of the chicken. Once you’ve tried this, I bet burgers will take a backseat this barbecue season.

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Sticky Oriental Chicken with Asian-Style Salad

8 chicken portions – thighs or drumsticks.

For the marinade:

250ml oyster sauce

60ml clear honey

1cm of root ginger, peeled and finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

30ml light soy sauce

Tablespoon of chopped coriander

Pinch of Szechuan pepper

For the salad:

Quarter of small white cabbage, finely shredded

2 sticks of celery, finely sliced

Half a Chinese leaf, finely shredded

Half a red pepper, finely sliced

Half a green pepper, finely sliced

One red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

Half a bunch of spring onions, finely chopped

Handful of chopped coriander

Handful of toasted pine nuts

One red chilli, finely sliced

For the dressing:

Juice from one lime

2 tsp sesame oil

2 tabs rapeseed oil

1cm of fresh ginger finely chopped

1tsp caster sugar

Method

Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl.

Slash the skin of the chicken portions with a sharp knife and add to the marinade.

Coat well, cover and leave to marinate over night.

To cook, put on a baking tray, drizzle with a little vegetable oil and place in preheated oven, 180oC, for about 25 minutes (depends on size of chicken portions) and then finish off on the barbecue until juices run clear. To double check they are cooked, use a meat thermometer to ensure core temperature is 80oC.

To make the salad, simply toss all the salad ingredients together in a bowl. Put the dressing ingredients into a screw-topped jar.

Shake well and pour this over the salad, tossing thoroughly.

Chef’s Tip

This marinade will go equally well with pork loins. Try swapping the honey for golden syrup for an extra sweet stickiness.

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