Grilled Chicken Thighs with Sesame-Horseradish Mayo

I am blessed with great friends. When Caleb and I were visiting New Jersey in late April, ME let me make dinner based on whatever cookbook I was currently focused on testing. [And John asked for beef Wellington. Don't fret, I haven't forgotten.] The cookbook of that moment was Gather & Graze, and based on the recipe vote results, I needed to make the kohlrabi salad. Delicious as it is, kohlrabi salad couldn't be the only dinner course, as we put our heads together as I paged through the book and ME spotted the grilled duck hearts with sesame-horseradish mayo. Thinking they would complement the grilled broccoli with smoky blue cheese and the kohlrabi salad, she suggested swapping out the duck hearts for much more easily sourced chicken thighs.

Stephanie Izard's recipe calls for a few ingredients that you might not have around your house. The most obvious of these being the fermented black beans. The second being horseradish, the third being sherry vinegar, and the fourth mayonnaise. You can seek out the real thing if you're feeling adventurous, but I've made this dish a few rimes now with either this Chinese black bean sauce or this fermented black bean paste and both editions were excellent. Growing up we always had horseradish, but I haven't encountered many other people who stock it in their kitchen, plus you'll need about ½ a standard jar for this recipe. In my encounters with friends' pantries (I snoop, yes, but in the service of baking chez vous), the average pantry has about 2-3 vinegars and sherry vinegar isn't one of the usual suspects. Conversely, most people have mayo, but I don't generally stock it. All in all, you're looking at an investment of roughly $10-20 for these specialty ingredients. You can substitute white wine or rice vinegar for the sherry vinegar, but this sauce requires the fermented black beans, horseradish, and mayo, there are no good alternates. I promise, it's worth it, and so good you'll make it again and again, so you won't be stuck with used-once pantry items.

These grilled chicken thighs are phenomenal and I urge you to make them straight away. It's grilling season after all and these are super easy.

First, you'll blend together all the sauce ingredients except for the mayo. Reserve a ½ cup, and use the rest to marinate the chicken thighs. I recommend marinating the chicken thighs for 2-3 hours (in the fridge), but if you're short on time, 30 minutes is sufficient to infuse a little extra flavor into the thighs. If you have plenty of time, you can marinate the chicken for up to 24 hours (in the fridge) prior to grilling them.

Get your grill (or grill pan!) heated to medium/medium-high (about 400 F) and grill the chicken thighs for about 7 minutes, flipping halfway through. Discard any of the leftover marinade. As the chicken thighs cook, whisk the reserved ½ cup sauce together with the mayo. Serve the chicken thighs with the mayo and some light vegetables (or the grilled broccoli!). I made this for a dinner party recently and it was devoured. Caleb and I would both happily eat this every day, and we don't agree on that many dishes. Once cooked, this grilled chicken will keep for about 4 days in the fridge - it's also quite good cold.

Do be aware this recipe yields a massive (in my opinion) quantity of sesame-horseradish mayo, however, I am not a big mayo person so it's difficult for me to judge. I bet you could grill double the quantity of chicken and make a really excellent chicken salad....

Adapted from Gather and Graze

Grilled Chicken Thighs with Sesame-Horseradish Mayo

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Course: Main

Cuisine: American, Asian

Keyword: grilled chicken, stephanie izard

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Marinating time: 2 hours hours

Total Time: 2 hours hours 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 people

Ingredients

Sesame-Horseradish Marinade

• 2 tablespoons fermented black bean sauce*
• ¼ cup prepared horseradish preferably not "creamy style"
• ⅓ cup soy sauce
• ¼ cup rice vinegar or sherry vinegar
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• ¼ cup canola oil

Chicken

• 2-3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• kosher salt
• 1 cup mayonnaise**
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro optionally

Instructions

• In a blender, combine the fermented black bean sauce, horseradish, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and canola oil. Blend until fully incorporated. Reserve ¼ cup in a small ball jar or tupperware and store in the refrigerator. Pour the rest into a shallow baking dish (e.g,. a 9x13 pan).
  
• Place the chicken thighs into the marinade, turning to coat both sides. Place the covered dish in the refrigerator and marinate the chicken for at least 1-2 hours or up to overnight.
  
• Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat (about 375-400 F).
  
• Whisk together the reserved ¼ cup of marinade with the 1 cup mayonnaise. Taste and add more mayo if desired.
  
• Grill the chicken thighs, turning once, until firm and cooked to a safe temperature, about 5-7 minutes. Discard any remaining marinade.
  
• Spread a couple of generous dollops of the mayo sauce on a large serving plate. Transfer hot chicken thighs directly from the grill onto the sauce. Serve immediately, with the extra sesame-horseradish mayo on the side and, optionally, a sprinkle of chopped cilantro.
  

Notes

*see text for what I used - One Culture Foods black bean sauce or Chong Jung Won black bean paste.

**the mayo makes this sauce, it's not nearly as good if you try and replace it with yogurt.