40-Clove Garlic Chicken, With an Asian Twist
Bill, Judy, Sarah, and Kaitlin Leung are the cooks behind The Woks of Life, a food blog spanning several generations of their family. For the past two years, the entire family has used the blog — featured as part of Yahoo Food Blogger of the Week series — as a platform to communicate, tell stories, and share food across distances. Here, Sarah Leung stuffs more garlic than we ever thought possible — 40 cloves! — into this satisfying chicken dish.
Photos: The Woks of Life
Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic is a classic French dish that, yes, does involve mind-boggling amount of garlic. The first time I tried it, however, I was surprised by how not-all-that garlicky it was. After braising with the chicken, the garlic develops a super mellow, sweet taste that lacks the spicy, pungent flavor one might expect.
I decided to Asian-ify the dish a little, substituting half of the traditional vermouth for Shaoxing wine. Then I thought, “Eh, why not get crazy and throw a little soy sauce in there while I’m at it?” And because I didn’t have any parsley or thyme, I ended up using cilantro to garnish the dish at the very end.
Asian 40-Clove Garlic Chicken
Serves 6-8
3 tablespoons oil
4 pounds chicken pieces (i.e. bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, thighs, or legs)
Salt and pepper, to taste
40 cloves garlic, peeled
3 slices ginger
1 tablespoon soy sauce
¼ cup Shaoxing wine
¼ cup dry vermouth
2/3 cup chicken stock
Small handful of cilantro
Heat oil in a cast iron skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Rinse the chicken, pat dry, and season with salt and pepper. Brown the chicken on each side until crisp. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Transfer the chicken to a deep roasting pan or baking dish and set aside. Add the garlic cloves and ginger to the pan where you cooked the chicken; cook until caramelized, about 8 minutes.
Add the soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and vermouth, and cook for another 2 minutes, deglazing the pan as you go. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Pour over the chicken and transfer to the oven. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, and garnish with cilantro.
This recipe originally appeared on The Woks of Life.
More zesty garlicky dishes to love:
Sage and Garlic-Brined Chicken From ‘The New Easy’
Hawaii-Style Garlic Shrimp Recipe From ‘The Domestic Man’
Roasted Eggplant with Black Garlic, Pine Nuts, and Basil from ‘NOPI: The Cookbook’
