Cooking corner: Korean barbecue season is here

Helen Taylor Smith

Cooking corner

It’s barbecue season, and cooks are looking for something different to prepare to serve to family or friends for a cookout.

This recipe is perfect for its tantalizing garlic aroma that will draw you to it, and the delicious taste will have you craving more.

The more garlic, the better — as garlic lovers know.

Use boneless chicken thigh meat for an especially tasty dish.

Double or triple the recipe for more servings.

The tamari sauce, Agave sweetener, toasted sesame oil and “Spike” can be found in the natural foods section at Fred Meyer. The marinade can be prepared a day ahead and kept tightly wrapped and refrigerated.

Serve this barbecue with steamed brown rice and a salad of cucumbers and tomatoes drizzled with Balsamic vinegar, or extra virgin olive oil — 100 percent expeller-pressed.

Check your market for Korean Kimchee for an authentic addition.

Many years ago, we owned a peach orchard and decided to chip the old, downed trees and package them up to add to the charcoal or gas grill, which provides more flavor and aroma.

At a wine tasting, we demonstrated the chips by preparing this recipe and serving tastes to the attendees. We were the most popular booth, with long lines for samples of the Korean barbecue!

We sold lots of bags of peach chips, too.

I first tasted Korean barbecue while I was living in Honolulu at a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant located on a side street. The place was always busy, and I worked to try to duplicate what they did and found this recipe pretty close. I think you will enjoy it, too.

Ingredients

12 skinless, boneless chicken thighs

2/3 cup low-sodium tamari sauce

2/3 cup water

2 tablespoons organic Agave sweetener

20 cloves garlic, finely minced

1/2 cup fresh ginger, peeled and finely mined

1 cup green onions, washed and finely chopped

2 tablespoons red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil, 100 percent expeller pressed

1 teaspoon “Spike,” salt free

Technique

Prepare marinade first. In a 2-quart mixing bowl, pour tamari sauce, water and sweetener. In a small food processor, place the garlic and ginger and mince them finely, then add to the liquid mixture.

When using a food processor to mince the garlic and ginger, add 1 tablespoon of water. That will help provide a finer finish to the mincing.

Add the chopped green onions, pepper flakes, sesame oil and “Spike,” salt free. Stir thoroughly and pour marinade into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Set aside.

Or prepare the marinade a day ahead, cover tightly and refrigerate until it’s needed.

On a work surface, place two sheets of plain paper towels and cover them with a large sheet of wax paper. Wash the chicken thighs and pat them dry.

Using a mallet, pound each thigh to about one-quarter-inch thick, in order to break up the muscle, then place them into the prepared marinade.

Thoroughly wash your hands, work surface, utensils and sink with hot soapy water after you work with raw chicken, in order to prevent any risk of salmonella. Use additional paper towels for cleanup.

Marinate for at least two hours, but turn the pieces over every 30 minutes. Keep the chicken tightly covered and refrigerated.

Brush or spray oil on a grill, then heat it until it’s quite hot. Place the pieces of the marinated chicken on the grill and cook for about five minutes, basting with the marinade as it grills.

Turn the chicken over; cook another four minutes and stop basting during last two minutes of grilling.

All the marinade should be gone, but if there is any left over, throw it out, since it’s uncooked and contains raw chicken.

Yield — 12 servings.

Cooking Corner columnist Helen Smith, the “Healthy Cook,” can be reached by e-mail at thecook@thehealthycook.com. This recipe is supplemental to and property of “Cooking Healthier with the Healthy Cook” by Helen Taylor Smith. Permission is granted for personal use only. No commercial use permitted without explicit written contract with the author.