Why should you make this beer-braised chicken with sriracha, mushrooms, and onions? Because it is awesome, and you will not be disappointed.

I stumbled across this recipe quite a while ago. Like most other things, it was pinned and left to sit on my board until I felt like I wanted to make it.

We finally added this to our menu because I realized how economical it was for a dinner. Chicken legs are anywhere between $3 and $5 a package (usually 5-6 legs) which is more than enough to fill us up. We usually barbecue or bake our chicken legs, so this recipe was a unique touch to an item that frequently sits on our dinner table.

Rahul brought home an imperial stout for the 1/2 cup of beer this recipe calls for. Unlike wine, when a recipe calls for even a drop of beer, I’ll purchase it knowing that I get to drink the rest!

Even though I love beer, I’m not always interested in adding beer to my recipes. Sometimes beer can overpower a recipe to the point where it doesn’t taste right anymore. I was a little nervous about that here, but the sriracha seemed like a great way to balance the flavors – and it totally worked. Between the beer, hoisin and soy sauce, sriracha, sugar, and fat from the chicken, the sauce packed tons of flavor that I couldn’t argue with.

If I had to change one thing, I might make a cornstarch slurry to make the sauce into a gravy, but as Rahul told me, not everything needs to be gravy-field.

Beer-Braised Chicken with Sriracha

Inspired by Appetite from China

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• Chicken legs, drumsticks, even chicken breasts would be appropriate
• Canola oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 small onion
• Handful of mushrooms
• 2 to 3 tsp Sriracha

For the sauce:

• 1/2 dark beer – an imperial stout, porter or brown ale would be a good choice
• 1/4 cup water*
• 1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce**
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• Pinch of salt

Direction

1. In a large skillet, heat the butter and a few tablespoons of canola oil. Pat the chicken dries with a paper towel and add to the skillet, browning each side for 4-5 minutes.
2. While chicken is browning, slice your onions and mushrooms. Saute them in a skillet with one tablespoon of canola oil until lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes. Add the Sriracha and stir until mixed through – remember, you can always add more hot sauce later but you can’t take it away!
3. Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. When the chicken has browned, add the sauce, mushrooms, and onions. Cover and cook for 20-25 minutes or until chicken have been cooked through.
4. We ate this alongside yellow rice (and a few more drops of Sriracha). The chicken was so moist and tender that I just can’t wait to make this dish again!

Notes:

*The original recipe called for 1/4 cup of chicken stock, however, I only had bouillon cubes on hand and didn’t want to make a full cup of chicken stock only to use a quarter of it. Feel free to use chicken stock if you have it on hand.

**Hoisin sauce is worth the purchase – so many Asian recipes call for it, so don’t think that you’re buying something for one use only. It is in many stir-fry sauces!