OVEN-BAKED BBQ'D CHICKEN

Do you ever get cravings for a certain dish? Maybe something that takes you back to your childhood? Or your ethnic roots? I woke up yesterday morning craving North American BBQ'd chicken: moist, spicy, succulent BBQ'd chicken. For years I've been reading that you should never eat the skin of a chicken (my favourite) or the dark meat (also my favourite) and we should stick to skinless chicken breasts. To me, that's like saying, "Eat this piece of tasteless wood cuz' it's better for you than this juicy chicken leg." And then I discovered that the dark meat of a chicken (legs, thighs) contains a healthier dose of zinc, which is what we all need right now to boost our immunity, than the breast meat. So, feeling totally guilt-free, I got up and immediately made a BBQ sauce bath for my chicken legs and thighs to languish in, and hours later, cooked up the most delicious oven-baked BBQ chicken. Big bonus: Outside the Aloha Bakery in Jalan Song, Kuching, is a guy who sells the best corn I've ever tasted so BBQ chicken and buttered corn on the cob it was. Y'all need to try it, folks, it really is "finger-lickin' good" (with no apologies to Colonel Sanders).

INGREDIENTS

assortment of chicken legs and thighs with skin left on (if you like breasts, those too)

BBQ sauce

1 1/2 cups tomato ketchup

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 heaped tablespoon molasses

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

a few grinds black pepper

1 tbsp dried garlic granules

1 tsp ground English mustard powder

METHOD

Wash chicken pieces thoroughly and pat dry.

In a large bowl, combine all BBQ sauce ingredients. Reserve one cup in another container. Toss chicken pieces into bowl of sauce and coat well. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until you're ready to cook. (You can leave for 1 hour or as long as overnight.)

Preheat oven to 205C and line a large baking sheet with foil. Place chicken pieces on foil and bake for around 30 - 40 minutes in the middle of the oven.

Change setting of oven to GRILL and move the chicken up in the oven to sit under the heat source at the top. Grill for a further 10 minutes or so, just until the chicken skin browns and crisps up (see pic). You can use the reserved sauce to baste the chicken or just keep it for the next time you make it.

Serve with hot corn on the cob, slathered with salty butter.

(The next day, you can have a kale salad if it makes you feel better...)

What Is Zinc?

It’s a mineral your cells need to fight off bacteria and viruses and make the genetic material, called DNA, that tells your body how to work the way it should. It helps you heal wounds, aids your senses of smell and taste, and is important for infants and children as they grow.