Guava BBQ Chicken

I recently found a recipe for homemade guava BBQ sauce, and it got me thinking that a homemade, Hawaiian style mixed plate would be the perfect dinner.  So, I put together some delicious guava BBQ chicken, homemade macaroni salad (you can find my recipe here), and some freshly steamed brown basmati rice topped with a little nori furikake (a delicious Japanese seasoning with salt, sesame seeds, and seaweed).  This is a pretty simple recipe, and can be varied based on your needs.  I hope you like it; Patrick did!

Here’s what you will need:

1 jar guava jam (I used an 18 oz. jar, I would say anything between 12 and 18 will do; I purchased mine at Marukai Market, but I think you could find this at a well-stocked grocery store or at World Market as well)

1/2 cup dark rum

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 small can tomato paste

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

4 teaspoons ginger, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

white part of two green onions/scallions, finely chopped

6 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/2 cup water

4 chicken breast filets and 6 chicken drumsticks (feel free to use all breasts or all drumsticks or whatever depending on your tastes; this at least gives you the idea of how much chicken to buy)

1 red onion

Here’s what you do:

1.  Combine the guava jam, rum, vinegar, tomato paste, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, ginger, garlic, green onion, lime juice and water in a sauce pan.  Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to simmer the sauce until it thickens, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2.  In the meantime, place the chicken in a baking pan.  Season each piece with a little salt and pepper.  Cut the onion into about 6 large chunks and place between the chicken pieces in the pan.

3.  When the BBQ sauce is done cooking, pour it all over the chicken (don’t worry, we will cook it later so you can have extra sauce for spooning and dipping).  Allow the chicken to marinate for about 30 minutes (or longer – even overnight would be fine).

4.  When you are ready to cook the chicken, you have options.  Option A is what I did:  Place the chicken and the onion pieces on a stove top griddle/grill on the grill side and put it into the oven at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, flip all the chicken pieces; cook for another 10 minutes and remove the breasts; increase the heat to 400 degrees and cook the legs for another 20 minutes.  While I was cooking the chicken in the oven, I put the sauce into a pan on the stove and allowed it to simmer the whole time.  Option B would be to cook these guys on the grill (and simmer the sauce).  Option C would be to put the whole marinating pan in the oven at 375 degrees and just cook the chicken in the sauce.  Up to you!

5.  Once you are done cooking the chicken, remove from the oven (or grill) and top with some extra BBQ sauce.  Serve with steamed rice topped with a little nori furikake and some mac salad (recipe here) to make a true Hawaiian style mixed plate.

Enjoy!