Japanese Mum's Chicken

We have a Japanese girl Tomoko living with us, and tonight she and I cooked a Japanese dinner for us and her friends. She phoned her mum Toshiko in Japan for this as it's her favourite recipe, and I wanted to share it here. It's simple and soooo good, and Tomoko who is only 16 did such a good job of cooking this, then translating the recipe to English for me. *The sauce will thicken to a glaze if you are patient. It just takes a bit of time. If you feel your chicken is cooked (and going to over cook) remove it before going on to reduce the sauce. Same thing, if you must use breast meat, remove it (so it doesn't dry out) and continue reducing the sauce . If you do it this way rather than thickening with cornstarch you will get a richer glaze and not need to add stock or broth instead of the water. It just takes patience.- by JustJanS

45 min | 5 min prep

SERVES 4

• 8 chicken drumsticks, skin on (the skin is important for flavour, and is so tasty to eat!)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and bruised
• 1 small hot chili pepper, slit open, seeds removed

Let's do it !

1. Place all the ingredients in a saucepan over a high heat.
2. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes.
3. Remove any scum that rises to the surface.
4. Increase the heat, turning the drumsticks frequently in the sauce, and cook until the liquid has reduced to a sticky glaze.
5. Arrange the chicken on a serving platter, remove the garlic clove and chili from the liquid, and spoon the glaze over.
6. NOTE It's a glaze rather than a sauce, so there's not a whole lot of it.