Slow Cooker Asian Chicken Barbecue

 

This barbecue chicken recipe has an Asian flavor of sweetness from the 7-Up or Sprite or pineapple juice, catsup and sugar, the saltiness from the soy sauce plus the tang from the lemon juice.  The garlic and red pepper flakes complete the flavor of this simple but delicious dish.  The slow cooking actually saves you time since you are actually marinating the chicken as you slow cook it.  Thus skipping the marinating process that is the norm for most Asian type barbecue chicken.  Chicken with the bone are also hard to thoroughly cook and the slow cooking process assures you that you safely cook your chicken with no uncooked portions especially near the bones. 

You can eat this chicken dish straight from the crockpot.  You do have an option to grill, broil, pan fry or bake the chicken using the ample delicious sauce as basting material.  Enjoy this with your family and friends.  They will love you for preparing this delicious dish next time you have your picnic.   

 

Slow Cooker Asian Chicken Barbecue

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup tomato catsup
• 1/2 can 7-Up or Sprite or 3 oz pineapple juice
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes or according to taste
• 4 lbs chicken thighs or legs or both

1. Place all the ingredients except the chicken in the slow cooker and mix thoroughly.  Then add the chicken pieces and coat them with the mixture.

2.  Slow cook for 3 hours at high setting or 6 hours at low setting.  I used an Aroma brand rice cooker/slow cooker where I cook the chicken for 2 hours at slow cooker setting.

3.  You can eat the chicken straight from the slow cooker with rice.  You can also broil the chicken with some sauce on top (I used this process for preparing the chicken in the pictures above) or pan fry in the sauce or bake the chicken basting it with the sauce.  If you have the grill on, you can spray the chicken with Pam spray or brush with oil first then grill the chicken using the sauce to baste it.  Microwaving the chicken with sauce can also concentrate the sauce giving it a deep sweet BBQ flavor.  What ever method you use to finish off the chicken will go real fast since you have now marinated it during the slow cooking process as well as thoroughly cooked the chicken. 

Note:
Straight from the slow cooker, rice and steamed vegetables or ramen noodles with vegetables are good sides.  Broiled etc, the bbq chicken will go with french fries or potato salad or even mac and cheese.  To balance it off have green salad with the bbq chicken.