Shoyu Chicken for my brother

[DaveD]

Tonight I cooked my brother Scott's signature dish, Shoyu Chicken, which he came up with by learning from his Japanese wife, Hami, back in the 1970s when they were first married (they live on Oahu in Hawaii). I've modified it just a tad but it's pretty much his basic approach. Scott is in hospice for his final days - maybe final hours - after years battling the consequences of melanoma that metastasized. He was a great candidate for a then-experimental treatment combining immunotherapy with other approaches about ten years ago (the docs who came up with the treatment went on to win the Nobel Prize in medicine for it), and it brought him to total remission for a good 7-8 years. Without question, it gave him another decade of good life, and made it possible for him to see his youngest daughter married last October (some may remember my posts from that trip - I officiated the wedding). Through my grief, I figured this would be a great way to celebrate him as the end approaches.

The recipe couldn't be simpler. Chicken (I use skin-on, bone-in thighs) is first simmered in a sauce of half soy sauce and half water, to which is added brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and chopped green onion, plus a dash of cayenne for a bit of zip (the latter is my tweak). (See Post #6 below for the exact amounts.) Once it is fully cooked, it's removed from the sauce, and then I strain out the solids and (my other tweak) up the heat to a low-moderate boil, and reduce the sauce by about 50%.

Then the chicken is put on the grill over high heat for a few minutes, flipping every 45 sec or so, to put some char on there. Served with jasmine rice and steamed broccoli. So, so good. Whenever we would visit him this would always be his "Aloha dinner" to welcome us.








Plated with the rice and broccoli, with the reduction sauce overtop.





Aloha, my beloved brother.

[STEbbq]

What a wonderful way to honor your dear brother Dave and a lovely dish. I am sure it tasted amazing. I am sorry for your loss.

[SheilaAnn]

💕💕💕

[Draznnl]

Very sorry for your impending loss. That dinner looks delicious. What a wonderful tribute to your brother.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

F cancer, I'm glad he was able to get that treatment and help prove it's effectiveness to positively affect so many other lives.

Any guesses for the measurements on the sauce ingredients? This definitely looks like something we'd give a shot

[DaveD]

Any guesses for the measurements on the sauce ingredients? This definitely looks like something we'd give a shot

More than just guesses! Sorry, forgot to include the actual values.

Sauce is 1c/240ml soy sauce (we always use the low-sodium version), 1c/240ml water, and 1c "loosely packed" brown sugar - i.e., it's not packed down the way one would do when baking. Three good sized cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped and about 1/2 tbsp/8ml finely chopped ginger OR four or five slices of ginger root if you roll that way. Three green onion shoots, coarsely chopped, and 1/2 tsp/2.5ml cayenne (could also use chili oil). This amount of sauce works great for the amount of chicken I typically use - half a dozen medium-sized thighs, or a couple of good-sized bone-in, skin-on breasts. Personally I think the dark meat works much better for this. Scale the amount of sauce if preparing more chicken than this.

Takes about half an hour to 40 minutes for the thighs to reach ~185F/85C. Remove the chicken from the sauce, increase the heat to med-high to get it bubbling steadily, and then about half an hour to reduce the volume by half. Total judgment call whether to strain out the solids before or after reducing - not sure it matters.

I typically start my fire when I pull the chicken out of the sauce, whether it's lighting a chimney or firing up the gasser (we had a lot of drizzle today so I stuck to the gas grill). Not much more than five minutes to put a nice char on the chicken (another reason to use the gasser, not spending a load of coals for so short a cook).

Because of the built-in break points, this is a cook that's very conducive to serving to guests, there are a few junctures where things can just hold if one gets to chattering away with guests or what have you. Very user-friendly. Another great side to add to the rice and green veg is a fruit/melon salad, especially if it is hot out. The cold & sweet of the melons is fantastic with the chicken and rice.

Do give it a try, it's easy and really tasty. And when you serve it, be sure to say "A-lowwwwwwwwwwwww-HA!" because that's what Scott always does

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

thank you, and will do

[ecowper]

Awesome dinner, great way to celebrate your brother! My prayers and heartfelt wishes for you and your family to find peace in this challenging time.

[DaveD]

Thanks Eric, I really appreciate it.

[DaveD]

I know I've posted this before, but it's worth a repeat, under the circumstances.

After my father died in 2002, Scott and I started taking my Mom to Dodger games when we would visit, first singly, and then together, and then Scott started organizing pretty much the whole family and a bunch of long-time family friends to join. Got to the point where we occupied pretty much an entire section every year. My Mom, an extremely dedicated Dodgers fan (we all grew up in LA and her uncle played for the 1937 Brooklyn Dodgers, although I didn't learn that until after she passed) just ate it up.

This photo is from the first year we both took her to the game, and Scott had called in every favor he had to get us killer seats right behind the visiting dugout, and it was an interleague game with the hated New York Yankees (we grew up in the time when the Dodgers and Yanks were regular Series combatants). We were surrounded by Yankees fans, including Reggie Jackson a couple rows in front of us, Larry David a few seats over, Jack Nicholson in the next section... quite a day - and it was Father's Day, to boot, the first since my Dad had passed. Scott had those T-shirts made for us, and we rocked 'em.



But the best part was just moments after this photo was taken, when the fellow right behind us in the black shirt and black NY cap leaned forward. "You know," he said, "I've been to every ballpark in the country. Every single one. And there is no better hot dog in the entire country than these Dodger Dogs." We replied "hey, thank you sir, that is so great of you to say!" Then he dropped the mic: "It's just a shame that you can't get one in October." Sick Burn! (Of course, that was years before LA had a bunch of great years...) We gave him the "we're not worthy" bow and we all shared a big laugh. This is one of the very best memories of my entire life.

[ecowper]

What a great memory

[Greygoose]

And a BoSox hat,,,,👍👍👍

[DaveD]

Greygoose I never got more action in my life than that day, walking along the concourse of Dodger Stadium. One guy came up to me and said "I just want to shake the hand of the man with the Red Sox cap and YANKEES SUCK t-shirt!" This was in 2004, before smartphones had evolved to the point of making it easy to take photos, else there would have been many selfie requests, I'm sure!

[Jim White]

What a great tribute. Thanks for sharing and relish those wonderful memories.

[MBMorgan]

Thank you, Dave ... and aloha, Scott.

[barelfly]

Thank you for sharing this with us, Dave! Seeing the photo of your mom and brother together…makes me smile!

[Whiskeyman53]

What a wonderful tribute. You are part of a very special family.

[DaveD]

Whiskeyman53 I am just so lucky to be part of the family I am. Most of us genuinely really like one another! Scott once said we have mastered the Art of Like. "We all love each other - it's easy to love someone. It's much harder to stay in LIKE."

[Old Glory]

Thank you for sharing you memories and good times with Scott. Cherish those good times.

[hoovarmin]

Gosh Dave, what a wonderful tribute to Scott. You will be on my heart, I assure you, in the coming days.

[klflowers]

You have my condolences Dave. Looks like you guys enjoyed yourselves and made lots of great memories. And thanks for the recipe. I'll make sure to say aloha when I make it.