Grilled Chicken With Homemade Barbecue Sauce

Cooking chicken on a barbecue is a bit tricky. To get the right result you need to pre-cook it in the oven before you put it under the grill or on a barbecue, if not you might end up with an undercooked chicken. In this recipe I marinated the chicken with our homemade barbecue sauce (me and my wife argue over which of us created it). We did our research on the internet and came up with this recipe which combines Western and Asian flavours. It's a good cupboard staple to have because it's so versatile. Use it on a pizza instead of tomato sauce or to marinate pork ribs for a barbecue. I served my grilled chicken with a grilled corn on the cob which I had marinated with a mixture of the barbecue sauce and some butter. We also had a bowl of salad, some slices of focaccia bread and it was a great barbecue combo on a plate.

For the barbecue sauce:

Ingredients:

1 tbs vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 inch fresh ginger, chopped
1/2 big fresh red chilli, chopped
1 star anise
2 tbs molasses or black treacle
1 tbs dark soy sauce
5 tbs tomato ketchup
1 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp smoked paprika
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a sauce pan and fry the garlic,chilli and ginger until fragrant. Add the rest of the ingredients with a splash of water and simmer on a medium heat until the sauce has thickened up and is syrupy.

For the grilled chicken and corn on the cob:

Serves 2

2 chicken legs (including thighs)
2 corn on the cobs
1 tbs of butter, melted

Marinate the chicken with the barbecue sauce and cook in a pre-heated oven at 200 C for 15 to 20 minutes. While the chicken is cooking you can start preparing the corn on the cobs, by mixing the melted butter and barbecue sauce and marinating the corns with the mixture. Cook the corn under the grill, turning regularly until each side is cooked. After that continue to cook the chicken under the grill until the skin turns crispy. If you have a griddle pan you can use it instead of the grill but it will produce a lot of smoke in your kitchen. If you are having a barbecue, even better. This dish will guarantee everybody is licking their fingers and their plates.