Baked Soy Drumsticks

September is such a fresh and exciting month.  It’s the start of fall, a new school year, and the beginning of a marathon of holidays.  I find this month to be very festive in a non-holiday related sort of way, if that makes any sense.  There’s a very pleasant golden glow to everything, which makes me feel very hopeful.

In preparation for the future parties/get togethers you may hold for Halloween, Monday night football, cold weather birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and even New Year’s, I thought I’d share with you a great party food.  Drumsticks!  Not fried, but baked!

My mom makes really tasty soy glazed drumsticks but I didn’t have time to call her so I tried to come up with a marinade from memory.  It didn’t turn out exactly the same, but it was good in its own way.  The drumsticks were very tender and juicy, with a nice salty touch from the soy sauce.  A lot of people don’t like to cook or eat chicken because it gets really tough and dry, but there’s a secret method to keeping it nice and moist: soaking in milk!  It sounds odd, possibly even icky, but trust me it works.  There is absolutely no dairy aftertaste, if that was what you were worrying about. My roommate let me in on the secret and I have never skipped this step since.

 

 

I used large drumsticks, but I recommend using smaller ones.  The flavors will be concentrated and blossom together with more impact.  You can prepare all the steps the night before and just pop them in the oven for a dinner with friends the next night!  Very easy.

Baked Soy Drumsticks

Serves 6

3 lbs chicken drumsticks
About 1/2 carton of milk and/or buttermilk
3/4 cup soy sauce
2 1/2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons sugar
5 garlic cloves minced
Ginger, about the size of a garlic clove, minced
1/3 cup water
1 green onion, chopped, plus more to garnish

Clean and trim drumsticks of fat.  Put them in a bowl and submerge in milk/buttermilk for 30 minutes.  Drain well. Combine soy sauce, mirin, sugar, garlic, ginger, water, and green onions together.  Pour over the drumsticks for at least 30 minutes or overnight.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lay drumsticks on a baking sheet and loosely cover with an aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour for smaller drumsticks, 1 hr and 15 minutes for bigger ones, or until cooked through.  10 minutes before taking them out of the oven, take the aluminum foil off so the chicken can crisp a little bit.