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  • 5 hours ago
Japanese-style roast chicken gets a festive upgrade with crispy skin and a glossy yuzu-soy glaze. Tender chicken leg quarters are marinated with soy sauce, sake, mirin, sugar, and fresh yuzu, then roasted and brushed with a lightly thickened glaze for a simple but impressive Christmas chicken dinner.

The recipe starts by opening out the leg quarters, piercing the flesh to help the marinade absorb, and letting the chicken rest for at least 30 minutes. After roasting at 200Β°C for 18 minutes, the leftover marinade is simmered with sugar until slightly thickened, then brushed over the chicken and returned to the oven for a final lacquered finish. If fresh yuzu is hard to find, the recipe also suggests a citrus substitute using bottled yuzu juice with orange zest.

This Japanese roast chicken recipe is ideal for anyone looking for a holiday main dish, easy festive dinner idea, or Japanese Christmas food inspiration. It combines classic roast chicken technique with a bright soy glaze and citrus aroma for a dish that feels both familiar and distinctly Japanese.

Perfect for searches like Japanese roast chicken, yuzu soy glaze, Christmas chicken recipe, Japanese Christmas dinner, and festive roast chicken. It’s a simple cooking tutorial for holiday meal planning, weeknight special dinners, and anyone who enjoys Japanese home cooking with bold savory-sweet flavor.
Transcript
00:00If you're looking for a way to add some Japanese flavour to your Christmas spread,
00:04look no further down these delicious Japanese-style roasted chicken leg quarters
00:09with a yuzu-infused heric-style glaze.
00:16First, dry the surface of your chicken leg quarters with kitchen paper.
00:25Flip them over and then cut along the centre bone on both sides and open them out.
00:31You will also need to cut through the joint in the middle to separate it.
00:36These have actually already been cut because this is a popular way to prepare leg quarters in Japan,
00:42so unfortunately I can show you the process this time.
00:47Next, we're going to stab the flesh side with a fork all over.
00:51This will not only tenderize meat but also help absorb the marinade which is what we're going to make next.
00:58Place the chicken in a large Ziploc bag and then put that in a bowl to keep it upright.
01:08Season it with a few pinches of salt and pepper, then add 2 tbsp of soy sauce,
01:121.5 tbsp of sake, 1 tbsp of mirin, then the zest and juice of one whole yuzu.
01:20Yuzu actually have very large seeds and not much juice compared to other citrus fruits, so
01:26if you can't get fresh yuzu where you live, I recommend substituting it with about 1 tbsp of bottled yuzu
01:34juice
01:34and some orange zest for a similar flavour profile.
01:38Massage the bag to help combine the marinade ingredients and fully coat the chicken.
01:46Then seal the bag and rest it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, an hour if you have
01:52time.
01:52Avoid marinating it for too long as this can actually make the flavour too intense.
01:57Once it's ready, preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius, which is 392 Fahrenheit.
02:05Cover your oven tray with baking paper and remove the chicken leg quarters from the marinade
02:10and place them on the tray with the skin side facing up.
02:22Put those on the lower or middle shelf for 18 minutes.
02:30While we wait, we're going to make a glaze with the leftover marinade.
02:35Pour it into a small saucepan and add Β½ tbsp of sugar.
02:44Heat on medium low and stir continuously until it becomes a bit glossy and slightly thickened.
02:50Hitting it like this will make it brush more evenly onto the chicken later.
03:02After 18 minutes have passed, take the chicken out of the oven and brush it with a glaze.
03:07You might have heard about the unique tradition in Japan where people enjoy KFC as a part of their
03:13Christmas celebrations. It's true, lots of families actually booked a bucket for Christmas.
03:19But another popular dish during the holiday season is roasted chicken made with leg quarters.
03:25However, this isn't the usual roast chicken. It's glazed with soy sauce, giving it a unique
03:30Japanese teriyaki-like flavour profile.
03:33To brush up on this Christmas chicken and infuse it with an even more festive spirit,
03:38I've incorporated yuzu into the recipe. The fragrant citrus adds a fresh zesty note that complements the
03:47savoury soy glaze beautifully, creating a dish that's truly the best of the best.
03:52The soy sauce and sugar burn quite quickly, so place it back in the oven on the top shelf for
03:58just
03:58one minute. After one minute, we're going to brush it once more with the glaze. As you can see,
04:04this is the perfect amount for two large chicken leg quarters. And put it back in the oven for another
04:14minute. And that's it, delicious Japanese-style roasted chicken leg quarters with a festive yuzu-infused
04:26teriyaki glaze. And great news, I've launched a free mobile app that makes following along with my
04:34recipes even easier. It's the perfect kitchen companion after watching my videos. You can access
04:39step-by-step instructions right on your phone while you cook. The download link is in the description below.
04:47I hope you enjoyed this video. If you'd like to check out the written recipe,
04:50you can find it on my blog, the link is on the screen. And if you're interested in Japanese-style
04:55Christmas cake recipe, check out the video on the screen too. Thanks so much for watching,
04:59and I hope to see you in the next one. Happy holiday.
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