Korean Grilled Chicken Sandwiches

While I've been a little silent on the blog, I've been testing recipes.  I've had a few failures, and some ok’s, but only a few greats.  This is one of them.  A few weeks back, I was going through Facebook and came across a few delicious sounding Asian dishes.  I don't usually stick with a recipe exactly as written, here is my take on Korean Chicken.

Korean Grilled Chicken Sandwiches (also known as Chicken Bulgogi)

1/2 cup light soy sauce (not reduced sodium)

2 tablespoons Korean chili paste or Sriracha, depending on how hot you like things


1 small onion, peeled and grated or pureed in a food processor


2 tablespoons light brown sugar


1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar 

4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced or finely grated

1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil


2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger (peeled or unpeeled)


freshly ground Chinese black pepper


2 teaspoons sesame seeds

4-5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (1 to 1 1/4 pounds)

4 Demi baguettes

Shredded cabbage

Julienne carrots

Mix together:

¼ cup mayo

3 Tablespoons Sriracha 

1. Mix the soy sauce, chili paste or hot sauce, onion, brown sugar, rice wine, garlic, sesame oil, ginger, a few generous turns of black pepper, and sesame seeds in a large zip-top freezer bag.( reserve ½ cup, or so)

2. Lay the thighs on a cutting board, cover with a sheet of plastic wrap, and pound them so they’re about 1/3-inch (1cm) thick with a meat pounder, rolling pin, or another heavy object. (You can also pound them, a few at a time, in a separate freezer bag to make clean-up easier.) Trim off any excess fat.

3. Put the thighs in the plastic bag with the marinade, press excess air out of the bag, seal it closed, and massage it so the marinade covers the chicken. Refrigerate for several hours, or overnight. The chicken can also be marinated in a stainless steel or glass bowl, covered and turned several times while it’s marinating.

4. To cook, heat your grill to high heat. Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade and lay them flat on the hot grill. When well-seared on the bottom, turn them over and cook another few minutes until the thighs are cooked through. The total cooking time will be less than 5 minutes. (You can baste the thighs with any leftover marinade while grilling.)

5. Heat and reduce reserved marinade for a glaze. (Do not use the marinade you soaked the chicken in!!)

To cook in a skillet, cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces before marinading and put them in a large, lightly oiled skillet. When the chicken is seared on the bottom, stir the chicken and add any leftover marinade and let it reduce in the pan while the chicken finishes cooking.

From here, I used 4 Demi baguettes, sliced the ¾ of the way through, leaving a hinge. Dress with the Sriracha mayo, cabbage and carrots.  Place chicken on bread and serve. Drizzle glaze over chicken if desired.