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Hero shot of Honetsukidori (Grilled Seasoned Chicken Maryland).
Honetsukidori (Grilled Seasoned Chicken Maryland)
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
Marinating chicken
1 d
Total Time
1 d 50 mins
 

The famous Kagawa prefecture specialty, Honetsukidori (Grilled Seasoned Chicken Maryland) looks just like a roasted chicken maryland, but it has a rich and spicy flavour with plenty of garlic and ground pepper. The aroma from the chicken is irresistible. See the video.

Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.

Recipe Type: Main Dish
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: broiled chicken, chicken maryland, Grilled chicken, maryland chicken
Serves: 2
Author: Yumiko
Ingredients (tbsp=15ml, cup=250ml)
  • 2 pieces chicken maryland (about 350g/0.8lb each, note 1)
  • 4 tbsp chicken oil (made in this recipe)
Seasonings
  • 2 tsp garlic grated
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp dashi powder
  • 1 tsp ground white pepper (note 2)
  • 1 tsp soy sauce (optional, but strongly recommended)
Chicken Oil (makes 80-150ml/2.7-5.1fl oz, note 3)
  • 300g/0.7lb chicken skin cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 knob ginger (about 10g/0.4oz)
Serving
  • Cabbage leaves cut into large bite size pieces
Instructions
Butterfly Chicken
  1. Place the chicken Maryland on a cutting board facing the inside of the leg up.
  2. Using a sharp knife, make incisions along the bone.
  3. From the opening made by the incisions, insert the tip of your knife between the bone and the flesh, then slide the tip of your knife along the bone so that the flesh detaches from the bone leaving the bottom part of the bones intact with the flesh.

  4. Detach the flesh in the same way on both sides of the bones all the way (see the video). Repeat for the other chicken maryland.

  5. Use a fork to poke holes on both sides of the chicken maryland.

Marinate Chicken
  1. Mix the salt and the dashi powder well.
  2. Place the butterflied chicken maryland pieces on the cutting board and rub half of the grated garlic all over the surface of the chicken. Turn the chicken over and do the same with the rest of the garlic.

  3. Rub half of the salt with dashi powder all over the chicken, then do the same on the other side of the chicken.
  4. Sprinkle half of the pepper over the chicken and rub the surface. Do the same on the other side of the chicken with the remaining pepper.
  5. If using soy sauce, sprinkle the soy sauce over the chicken flesh, and rub the soy sauce into the flesh.

  6. Place the chicken pieces on a tray, cover the tray with cling wrap, and place it in the fridge for minimum 6 hours, preferably 1 day.

Make Chicken Oil
  1. Using the side of the knife, smash the garlic and the ginger.
  2. Heat a wok (or a deep-frying pan) over medium heat.
  3. Put the chicken skin pieces into the wok and spread them as much as possible to minimise the overlap.

  4. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring the skins from time to time. As the oil comes out of the skins, the skin shrinks a lot and the colour changes to brown (note 4).

  5. Add the garlic and the ginger to the wok and cook for further 5 minutes.

  6. Turn the heat off and collect the chicken oil through a sieve (note 5).
Cook and Serve Honetsukidori
  1. Heat the oven griller/broiler to high.

  2. If you have 2 small trays, cook a chicken on each tray. If not, use one larger tray.

  3. Spread 2 tablespoons of Chicken Oil on each tray (total 4 tablespoons for 2 chickens). If using one tray, spread 2 tablespoons of Chicken Oil on right half area of the tray, another 2 tablespoons of the oil on the left half area. (Note 6)

  4. Place each chicken on the oil, skin side down.

  5. Place the trays under the grill/broiler, about 10cm/4" below the heat.

  6. Cook for about 10 minutes until the surface of the chicken starts browning.
  7. Turn the chicken over and cook on the skin side for about 10 minutes. The surface of the skin should start browning and become crunchy. Remove the trays from the oven grill.

  8. Transfer the chicken to a serving plate, skin-side down.
  9. Pour the oil accumulated in the tray over the chicken. Pile the cabbage pieces on the side.
  10. Serve while hot, with a pair of scissors and a small piece of baking paper (or aluminium foil) to hold the leg.

How to Eat Honetsukidori
  1. Wrap the end of the leg with the paper/foil and hold it with your left fingers (for the right hander).

  2. Using the scissors, cut the meat on both sides of the bones, perpendicular to the bone, with about 2.5cm/1" interval.

  3. Then, cut the meat along the bones. As you cut, a bite-size chicken piece comes off the bone.
  4. Dip the piece of chicken in the oil on the plate and eat it. You can also dip a piece of cabbage in the oil to eat. (Note 7)

  5. At the end, grab the chicken bone and bite the meat off it. This is the best part.

Recipe Notes

1. Chicken maryland (or maryland chicken) is a cut of chicken leg that contains the thigh and drumstick connected together. It comes with skin on, which is needed for today’s dish.

The size of chicken can vary a lot, and it’s up to you what size chicken pieces you want to use as long as the amount of seasonings is adjusted accordingly.

2. You can use black pepper if you don’t have white pepper. Black pepper is hotter than white pepper, so you need to reduce the quantity. It will make the surface of the chicken blackish where the pepper is dense.

3. Depending on the fat that comes with the skin, the volume of chicken oil you can extract from the skin varies greatly. Even if the skin has minimum fat attached to it, 300g/0.7lb of skin should produce a sufficient amount of chicken oil that is required. My skin in the video produced 150ml/5.1fl oz of oil!

You can use excess chicken oil for stir frying, fried rice, and ramen. Add chicken oil to the ramen flavouring base as well as several drops to your ramen before eating.

4. As the skins get cooked, they becomes sticky. I used a wooden spatula to stir in the beginning, but I had to use a cutlery knife in the end. A stainless-steel spatula or a serving spoon would be the best to stir the chicken skin pieces.

5. The cooked chicken skin is very crunchy and flavoursome. Remove the garlic and ginger and transfer the skins to a small tray/bowl. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over them. It’s so delicious and perfect with a beer.

6. Spread the oil wide enough to place your chicken maryland on.

7. Sometimes Honetsukidori is served with a small Onigiri (rice ball) without filling inside. The idea is to dip the rice in the flavoursome oil and eat it.

8. Nutrition per serving. It is assumed that 50% of the chicken oil is consumed.

serving: 271g calories: 656kcal fat: 51g (65%) saturated fat: 15g (75%) trans fat: 0.0g polyunsaturated fat: 11g monounsaturated fat: 22g cholesterol: 226mg (75%) sodium: 1338mg (58%) carbohydrates: 2g (1%) dietary fibre: 0.4g (1%) sugar: 0g protein: 43g vitamin D: 1mcg3% calcium: 34mg (3%) iron: 3.7mg (21%) potassium: 504 mg (11%)