Huli-Huli Chicken

We honeymooned in Hawaii, and one of the meals we enjoyed while on our cruise there was "Huli-Huli Chicken." Huli-huli literally means "end over end" in Hawaiian, technically meaning rotisserie, but is also used to describe a soy- and ginger-flavored marinade.

Okay, so I may or may not have just used Wikipedia to look up that definition. And David and I may or may not have thought that huli-huli was Hawaiian for chicken, and we may or may not have gone around pointing and yelling "huli-huli" every time we saw one roaming in Kauai (which was only about every two seconds...seriously, there are a ton of wild chickens on that island).

Anyway, huli-huli chicken is delicious, and I love this recipe. I took inspiration from Major Mom's recipe on Tasty Kitchen to create this marinade dish.

For the wine, I used Pacific Rim Sweet Riesling for a few reasons. First, the name reminded me of the Pacific islands and Hawaii, though it's actually a Washington state vineyard. Second, the bottle touted notes of pear, pineapple and peach, which I though would go very well in a Hawaiian dish. And finally, it was affordable and on sale. But you can use whatever white wine you want!

Recipe adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:

• Two piece boneless skinless chicken breast (one whole)
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

Cut chicken into strips in place in a gallon-sized freezer bag.

Whisk together the wine, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and sugar. Pour into the bag, close and shake to coat chicken. Place the bag in a baking dish and refrigerate overnight.

Huli-huli chicken can be either grilled or baked. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 25 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.

Serve with pineapple slices and lime cilantro rice.