Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
4 skin-on, boneless chicken legs, about 800g
4-5 large cloves of garlic
150g gochujang
50g honey
2 tbsp shoyu
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp cooking oil
1 Japanese cucumber
1 small carrot
1 small red bell pepper
1 small yellow bell pepper
1 large head butterhead lettuce
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
DIRECTIONS
1 Begin the day before you plan to serve the dish: Rinse the chicken under running water, pat dry with paper towels.
2 Peel and finely chop the garlic and place in a medium bowl. Add the gochujang, honey, shoyu and sesame oil. Whisk to incorporate.
3 Place the chicken in a container large enough to fit them or in a resealable bag. Coat the chicken pieces with the gochujang mixture, massaging the marinade onto the meat. Cover the container or seal the bag and place in the refrigerator to marinate at least eight hours.
4 Take the chicken out of the fridge 30 to 45 minutes before you plan to cook it. Line a baking pan with foil. Place a metal rack – the kind used for cooling cakes – over the foil. Oil the rack with the cooking oil using a pastry or silicone brush. This prevents the chicken from sticking to the rack.
5 Using a teaspoon, scrape the marinade and the pieces of garlic off the chicken pieces. Place the chicken on the rack and let sit until the 30 to 45 minutes are up.
6 Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Place the chicken in the oven and let roast 30 to 35 minutes or until the skin is browned and crisp.
7 While the chicken is cooking, prepare the vegetables: Wash and dry the butterhead lettuce leaves, discarding any that are wilted or brown.
8 Peel the carrot and cut into matchstick-sized pieces. Remove the seeds from the cucumber and cut into matchstick-sized pieces. Seed the bell peppers and slice into thin strips.
9 When the chicken is cooked, remove from the oven and let rest for about 10 minutes.
10 Divide the lettuce, carrot, cucumber and bell peppers among four plates. Slice the chicken into 1cm- to 2cm-wide pieces and place on the plates. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.
