Hawaiian Chicken

This dish is easy and delicious.  I started searching for Hawaiian chicken recipes about a year ago when I was very pregnant and very hungry for the little bowls of rice and chicken that the Hawaiian/Pacific Islander student club would sell on the steps of my college student center.  The chicken was shredded but juicy, salty and sweet, and a perfect match for steamed white rice.

An online search lead me to a couple of recipes for "shoyu" or soy sauce chicken, and I tweaked them into a combination recipe inspired by multiple sources.  Here is my version of some Hawaiian comfort food which can be simmered away in a dutch oven on the stove top, or forgotten about for a few hours in a slow cooker -- both lead to succulent results!

Hawaiian Chicken
Prep Time: 25 Minutes
Cooking Time:  2 hours in dutch oven; 6 hours in a slow cooker

Ingredients:

• ¾ cups Low sodium soy sauce
• ½ cups Vinegar (apple cider vinegar works well)
• ¼ cups Pineapple juice
• ¾ cups Brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon Ground ginger
• 2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 1-½ cup Water
• 1 pound Boneless skinless chicken breasts OR 8-12 bone-in chicken thighs
• 1 cup Crimini mushrooms, very thinly sliced
• 1 can Sliced water chestnuts (Optional)
• 1 small can Pineapple, crushed or in chunks (Optional; use the juice for your ¼ cups pineapple juice!)

Directions:

For a slow cooker:

• In a separate work bowl, whisk together the first seven ingredients.  
• Add chicken and mushrooms to the basin of the slow cooker.  Add pineapple and water chestnuts, if using.
• Pour sauce over the chicken and mushrooms, cover, and cook on low heat for 6 hours or until chicken is tender and easily shredded.

For a Dutch oven:

• In a Dutch oven over low heat, add soy sauce, vinegar, pineapple juice, brown sugar and ginger. Stir to combine and heat just long enough for the sugar to dissolve. Add chopped garlic, water, and chicken. Turn chicken to coat.

• Bring to a boil and skim off and discard any foam that rises to the top. Reduce heat to low and simmer with the lid closed for 45 minutes to an hour.

• At this point, stir or flip chicken pieces so that the opposite side is immersed in the sauce. Add mushrooms, and pineapple and water chestnuts, if using.  Stir and cover. Cook an additional 45 minutes to an hour or until the chicken is easily shredded with two forks.

• Shred chicken and stir. If using chicken thighs, remove the chicken to a plate, shred, discard bones, and return the meat to the sauce.

Serve over steamed or brown rice and enjoy!