Delicious Ginger Chicken Recipe with a Twist

Recipe: Ginger Chicken Recipe »

This ginger chicken is the perfect chicken dinner recipe! Chicken is marinated in molasses, ginger and mint and then seasoned with a moreish ginger crumb. This ginger chicken tastes like it came from a restaurant because it did! This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader

This ginger chicken came from Newcastle restaurant called MEET. When I visited for a preview of Newcastle Food Month, we tried a few of their dishes and while they were all good, the ginger chicken was an absolute standout (and we had already tried a lot of food that day!). Everyone that tried it absolutely loved it and they were kind enough to share this recipe with me.

For Newcastle Food Month they're holding a Sunday Samba Party on the 6th of April, 2025. Usually I would associate ginger chicken with an Asian style dish but this wasn't. It uses molasses and mint as well as ginger. Trust me on this Dear Reader, it is really, really delicious!

Tips For Making Ginger Chicken

1 - I used bone in chicken thighs with the skin on. You can use boneless and skinless chicken thighs or you can also use other cuts of chicken. If you use boneless chicken it won't take as long to roast or grill.

2 - I like to take the chicken out of the fridge 30 minutes before you cook it so that it comes a bit more to room temperature.

3 - You can actually enjoy the chicken without doing the ginger crumb but I really do recommend making the crumb because it has so much of that ginger flavour and IMHO that's what elevates it from a regular recipe to a restaurant quality recipe!

4 - Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine used for cooking, adding depth and sweetness to balance savoury dishes. You can find it in the Asian aisle of the supermarket or at Asian grocery stores.

Ginger Chicken

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes concurrently

Serves: 4-6 people with a side dish

• 1.5kgs/3.3lbs chicken thighs, bone in skin on weight (around 6)
• 100ml/3.5flozs grapeseed oil (or neutral oil)
• 100ml/3.5flozs mirin
• 50g/1.7ozs brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons/30g/1oz mustard (hot English or seeded)
• 1 tablespoon/20g/0.7oz molasses
• 1/2 bunch mint, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt plus extra to season

Ginger Crumb

• 50g/1.7ozs ginger, skinned
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 60ml/2flozs grapeseed oil (or neutral oil)
• 90g/3ozs panko breadcrumbs
• Fresh mint to garnish

Step 1 - In a large bowl mix the oil, mirin, sugar, mustard, molasses, chopped mint and salt together. Coat the chicken thighs in this mixture and leave to marinate overnight (minimum 2 hours).

Step 2 - Drain the chicken from the marinade and cook chicken on open flame or BBQ or place in a 200C/400F fan forced oven on a parchment lined baking dish and cook for 45-50 minutes basting and then turning halfway or until the internal temperature reaches 74°C/165°F. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 3 - While the chicken is roasting, finely slice ginger with a mandolin. Add the oil to a saucepan on medium heat and add the ginger and salt. Cook until ginger crisps and curls-this can take anything from 5-10 minutes depending on how thick the ginger is sliced. Add breadcrumbs to the pot with ginger and toast turning constantly so that the breadcrumbs brown as evenly as possibly. It should only take about a minute or two. Generously sprinkle the ginger crumb over the top and garnish with fresh mint.

• Other Easy Chicken Recipes You Might Like
• Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
• Tuscan Chicken
• Chicken Schnitzel
• Chicken Pad See Ew Noodles
• One Skillet Chicken
• Korean Buldak Fire Chicken

I made this big tray of ginger chicken and some vegetables for Mr NQN to eat as I was going away for a couple of days. Monica had booked herself a holiday on the Central Coast and asked if I wanted to join her for the last couple of nights. It would be the last time we could go away before she leaves to go home to Italy.

I set off after lunch. I still find driving a bit stressful so I like to prepare myself as much as possible beforehand. I had my drink bottle filled with peach green tea, my music was playing my weird selection of music and everything was going well. Like when you’ve chosen the right lanes and there isn’t too much traffic. I was hoping for a smooth ride.

Then suddenly, my phone flashed an Emergency warning that it had shut down as it had overheated which happens if you are charging your iphone and it sits in a phone holder. I am not one of those people that just knows where they are driving, I just put the address in my GPS and follow it so I had to pull over. "Oh nooooo," I said muttering to myself.

The only place I could stop was at an industrial park. I unplugged my phone and turned the aircon to as cold as possible. I tried to use the old-fashioned car GPS which is so slow to use and hasn't been updated in years. It also cannot deal with just putting in a suburb and you need to put in a street and since I didn’t know the street where I was going I just sat there fretting. The quiet industrial car park then filled up with trucks. After 5 minutes my phone came back on, I had barely enough charge to get to the Central Coast. But it has pretty far from a smooth ride after that as I worried it would happen again!

So tell me Dear Reader, are you good with driving directions? Do you know where to go without needing a GPS?