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Cornell-Soy Sauce Chicken Marinade
Ingredients
Directions
Ingredients
1
egg
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¼ c
neutral oil, such as vegetable or grapeseed
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½ c
apple cider vinegar
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½ c
light soy sauce
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1 tbsp
dark soy sauce
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1 tbsp
toasted sesame oil
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1 tsp
salt
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¼ c
packed brown sugar
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1 tsp
poultry seasoning
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2-3 lg
scallions, chopped
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2 lb
bone-in chicken pieces
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1
scallion, chopped, for garnish (optional)
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Cornell-Soy Sauce Chicken Marinade

My father is from the Finger Lakes region of New York, where a white barbecue sauce known as Cornell sauce is de rigueur for grilling chicken; my mother is from Taiwan, where chicken is often bathed in some kind of soy sauce–based marinade. This recipe can work on the grill or by cranking up the oven to roast the chicken pieces on a sheet pan. Just be sure to marinate the chicken overnight with the sauce first—but six hours is a good minimum if you absolutely can’t.

4 servings

  1. Whisk the egg with the neutral oil until bubbly. Slowly drizzle in the vinegar and continue whisking until emulsified. Whisk in the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, sugar, and poultry seasoning. (Alternately, you could combine all of the above ingredients in a blender and process until emulsified.) Fold in the scallions and chicken pieces to coat thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate overnight, or at least 6 hours.
  2. If roasting, preheat oven to 450ºF. Shake off excess marinade and place the pieces at least 1 inch apart on a greased sheet pan. Roast for 20 minutes. Turn the pan and brush remaining marinade on each piece. Roast for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the chicken is well browned and its internal temperature reaches 160ºF.
  3. If grilling, preheat the grill to about 500ºF. Shake off excess marinade and place the pieces at least 1 inch apart. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Turn the chicken and brush extra marinade on each piece. Cover and let cook another 10 to 15 minutes, turning as needed, until the chicken is fully cooked, with an internal temperature of 160ºF or more.
  4. Serve with optional scallions for garnish.

Cathy Erway

Cathy Erway is the author of the cookbooks The Food of Taiwan and Sheet Pan Chicken, and the memoir The Art of Eating In. She co-wrote Win Son Presents: A Taiwanese American Cookbook. She hosts the podcast Self Evident, exploring Asian American stories. She has won a James Beard Award and IACP award for her writing at TASTE.