I take it very personally when people have trouble making a recipe of mine. I take a great deal of care writing and testing recipes before I share them, and you would probably be horrified at the number of beautiful photos I have trashed because I wasn’t happy with the recipe, or because I thought the “fail” risk was too high. I posted this Balsamic Drumsticks recipe back in April 2015 and a handful of readers have had trouble with it. Specifically, getting the sauce to reduce down to a glaze. It’s not a technically difficult recipe, but it is unique because drumsticks are not usually cooked the stove in a braising liquid that transforms into a glaze and there are a couple of specific steps required to be followed to make this happen. So I decided to repost this recipe with fresh new photos, even more concise steps and a cooking video. So you can see exactly how to make it. 🙂
These balsamic chicken drumsticks are based on this Sticky Stovetop Chicken recipe that I stumbled across. When I read the recipe, I thought it sounded quite similar to the flavour and method used for Filipino Chicken Adobo (one of my favourite Asian chicken recipes!), except that it is made with drumsticks (and with less ingredients). This recipe is actually quite genius. I don’t think most people would think to cook drumsticks on the stove, and even if you did, getting a beautiful caramelisation and the glaze is another matter altogether. I bet most people would never guess it wasn’t baked. Or that there’s only 5 ingredients in this. FIVE. It’s a fairly classic sweet-sour taste made with a bit of sugar, balsamic and soy sauce. But then you add some water into the pot with the chicken and sauce so by the time the chicken is cooked, the braising liquid reduces down to a thick sticky glaze. And that glaze caramelises which adds even more flavour. Yummy! Look at it. This is what it looks like straight off the stove.
I remember the first time I made this recipe, I took a bite and thought “Ew, this is terrible”. I stood over the stove with my hands on my hips, head cocked, wondering how I was going to salvage it. I thought back over the recipe. I mean, it only has 5 ingredients in it. And there were rave reviews by people who had tried it. Either all those people have terrible taste in food….or….I stuffed up. Yep, you guessed it. I stuffed up a 5 ingredient recipe. FIVE INGREDIENTS and I managed to accidentally leave out the most important one – soy sauce. DUH! I managed to salvage my embarrassing disaster by taking out the drumsticks and remaking the glaze. And because the salvaged version was so tasty that I thought I had better make it again. I gave myself a big pat on the back for remembering all five ingredients the second time! Now this is a classic back-pocket recipe of mine. Sticky chicken – done – with less than 5 minutes of active effort. Can’t ask for much more than that! 🙂 – Nagi x
MORE CHICKEN DRUMSTICK RECIPES
Honey Mustard Drumsticks 5 Ingredient Sticky Stovetop Balsamic Drumsticks Jamaican Jerk Drumsticks Greek Chicken – ideal made with drumsticks instead of thighs Baked Chicken and Rice – make this with drumsticks instead of bone in thighs!
- Originally posted in April 2015. Reposted with new photos and a cooking video.
LIFE OF DOZER
If you want your daily dose of Dozer, you’ll need to watch the video! He makes a cameo appearance…. 😉 And I just can’t believe it….people mocked me over his robe that I shared at the bottom of the Caramel Slice recipe. “Dogs don’t wear clothes!”, they declared. Boo to them!
