You are going to love this glazed chicken made with fresh Clementines. Make it with boneless, skinless chicken thighs for even more flavor.
My kids can be picky when it comes to citrus (much like their dad).
Sometimes I buy them a box of Clementines and they practically inhale the things.
Other times they run from them like I was forcing vegetables down their throat.
A recent box of Clementines was more than latter than the former. They were more on the tart side.
In order not to let them go to waste, I decided to dust off my old Clementine Glazed Chicken Thigh recipe and give it another go around. I also wanted a chance to improve the awful photo I took the first time around. Here is said photo:
I am shocked (and embarassed) that anyone would have pinned this picture on Pinterest. Hopefully my photography has improved over the last couple years:
I would say that looks a little better! And for the record I served the chicken this time around with a mixture of short grain brown rice and tri-colored quinoa - for that little extra healthy something, plus it makes the plate look pretty, doesn't it?
Type of Clementines To Use
Clementine is often used to describe all types of mandarins just as Kleenex is used to describe all types of facial tissues. For this recipe, you can use any type of mandarin you want, whether the bag says Cuties or Halos, or it's a named variety like Satsumas or Ruby Tango.
Learn more about what mandarins you might find in season right now by reading our post on mandarin season.
Type of Chicken to Use
I like using chicken thighs for this recipe. Dark meat has more "chicken-ey flavor".
In order to save money I buy chicken thighs that has the skin on and bone in. For example, at Costco a package of Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs goes for $2.79/lb. For bone-in, skin on chicken thighs it costs $.99/lb. That's a big difference.
How to Trim Chicken Thighs
I remove the skin and bone myself. It's not that hard to do. In fact we have a video you can watch below that will show you how easy it is.
Using Chicken Breast
Some people don't like it or prefer leaner chicken. Feel free to use chicken breast for this recipe as well. I would recommend making the pieces of chicken small and thin. White meat dries out a lot quicker than dark meat. The quicker you cook it the more moist it will be. By making it small you can cook it faster.
Best Pan to Use
I love to use my Lodge Cast Iron skillet that I season up well. Cast iron is great at evenly distributing heat - so your chicken cooks more evenly. I recently got an induction cooktop that heats up really fast and is extremely efficient.
More Chicken Recipes to Try
Here are a few more chicken recipes from the blog you may want to try out.
Homemade Chinese Chicken w/Snow Peas
Leftover Electric Skillet Chicken Faijtas
Sous Vide Chicken with Creamy Pepper Flake Sauce
Ingredients
For the glaze
- 8-10 Clementines
- 1 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice
- 1 tablespoon orange blossom honey
- zest of 3 Clementines
- ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
For the chicken!
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into bite sized pieces
- cooking oil I like grape seed
- kosher salt
Instructions
To make the glaze
- Start by peeling 8-10 Clementines and place them into a blender or a container and use a stick blender.
- Place a sieve over a sauce pan and pour the mixture through it.
- Add remaining glaze ingredients
- Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium, so you don't boil over.
- Stir frequently.
- Cook until the juice it has begun to thicken and is almost a syrup like consistency, but not quite.
- Taste the glaze. Add more seasonings if necessary.
To prepare the chicken
- Season with kosher salt. Then grab a large skillet or electric skillet, and place enough oil just to cover the bottom.
- Heat the skillet over medium high heat.
- When skillet is ready, place the chicken inside.
- Cook until the chicken pieces have browned all over and there is no pink in the middle.
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