The other week, my best friend mentioned how she was having Hawaiian chicken for dinner. I asked what that entailed, and she said basically chicken in a pineapple and soy sauce marinade with pineapple chunks. I said, no peppers?? I mean, that just sounds like it’s crying out for peppers. Alas, her husband had a bad experience with peppers that makes even the sight of them revolting. Which sucks for him but really sucks for my friend who loves peppers.
Well, we are a pepper household! And it’s funny because about ten years ago, I wasn’t even a huge fan of peppers. I liked green peppers in a couple of things here and there, but definitely not on a frequent basis. I don’t know, but something happened “overnight”… meaning, somehow within about a year’s time, I went from being an iffy pepper person to a pepper lover. What once seemed like such a strong, dominant flavor is now a must add flavor!
Well, my friend putting the idea of Hawaiian chicken in my head left me massively craving Hawaiian chicken! So I started noodling on it and how I best wanted to throw together a marinade as well as how to serve it. Jokingly I told my husband we could add Spam, but that was not going to happen. I am not a Spam supportive.. way overly processed “meat”… is it really meat???
Anywho… so, the obvious went in: pineapple juice and soy sauce. I know a lot of recipes call for ketchup, but I inherently avoid ketchup in marinades. Why? I don’t know. I think for a couple of reason. There is so much crap added to ketchup. When using ketchup in a marinade, the reasoning behind it is, well, obviously tomatoes, but also vinegar and sugar. And those are flavors I feel like you can get from the source or from less tainted alternatives. In the case of this recipe, I opted for tomato paste, hoisin sauce, and brown sugar to replace the ketchup. I found it a much tastier alternative to ketchup.
I decided to pair this with coconut rice. Have you had coconut rice??? It is such a delicious side dish. I know it adds a lot more calories to rice, but in this case it is worth it!! My husband and I love coconut rice. We make it for burrito bowls, with fish, and all sorts of dishes! And it’s super easy to make.
The key to making coconut rice is to not let the coconut milk boil over ~ sounds easy enough, right? Really easy accident to let happen. When heating coconut milk in a covered pot, it quickly goes from simmering to boiling over.
In addition to coconut milk, I also used coconut water… if you can’t find coconut water or don’t feel like spending the money on it, no worries, just use plain water. I also added minced ginger, lime zest and juice, and fresh chopped cilantro. This rice is awesome sauce. And it goes so well with the Hawaiian chicken.
Okay, so it’s February on the east coast!! This is not the time of year that you normally think to yourself, let’s light up the grill and barbecue! And although I keep referring to this as Hawaiian chicken, it’s really a Hawaiian shish kebab. And I have found the new, awesome way to cook shish kebab in the middle of winter!
Last week, I posted up a recipe for a delicious Moroccan “shawarma” chicken. I cooked the chicken for that dish in the same way as I did for this dish. I placed the chicken and vegetables on metal skewers that were long enough to sit the width of a baking sheet. That allows the chicken, peppers, and pineapple to sit slightly raised off of the baking sheet, which in turn allows the hot oven air to circulate all sides of the kebabs. Then, for the last few minutes, I placed the tray under the broiler to lightly char everything.
Honestly, you won’t be able to tell that these weren’t cooked on the grill. The chicken was cooked perfectly through while retain a nice moist bite. The peppers were tender and charred, and the pineapples were perfectly heated through. I could not get enough of this dinner. It was so satisfying and felt like summer in the middle of winter… which is both awesome and sad. At least warm weather is just around the corner!
Have you tried shish kebabs in the oven? What did you do differently? If not, give these a go and let me know how they turn out for you!
Enjoy!
Hawaiian “Grilled” Chicken with Coconut Infused Rice
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: American, Asian
- Cuisine: Dinner
Ingredients
Chicken
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into 2” pieces
3 bell peppers, cut into 1½” pieces
1 pineapple, outside removed & cored, cut into 1½” chunks
½ cup pineapple juice
¼ cup soy sauce
1” ginger, finely minced
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 TBs brown sugar
2 TB hoisin sauce
2 TBs tomato paste
2 TBs Thai sweet chili sauce
2 tsps sambal oelek
Rice
2 cups jasmine rice
1½ cups coconut milk
1 cup coconut water (or regular water)
1 TB ginger, finely minced
zest & juice of 1 lime
handful cilantro, roughly chopped
Instructions
Make the marinade by whisking together the pineapple juice, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, brown sugar, hoisin sauce, tomato paste, sweet chili sauce, and sambal oelek in a large bowl. Add the chicken and peppers and marinate for 1 hour or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Make the rice by bringing the coconut milk and coconut water to a boil in a large, covered pot over medium heat (be careful not to let the milk boil over!). Add the jasmine rice and whisk to combine. Cover and reduce the flame to low. Cook for 20 minutes. Turn the flame off and let sit for an additional 10 minutes. When done, add the ginger, lime zest and juice, and cilantro and fluff together with a fork.
Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean up. Thread the chicken, peppers, and pineapple onto skewers that are long enough to span the width of the baking sheet. Place the skewers propped up on the edges of the baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and raise the rack to the highest position. Place the broiler on high and return the baking sheet to the oven. Cook for about 2 minutes to sear the chicken and peppers (keep an eye on the tray to not overly sear the chicken and peppers).
Dish the rice onto plates and top with the chicken, peppers, and pineapple. Garnish with additional cilantro, if desired. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
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