Frugal Foodie Friday - Japanese-Style Chicken Drumsticks

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The Discovery Fit and Health website has included One Perfect Bite in the Chilled Soup and Summer Salads link of their round-up, 7 Low-Calorie Summer Recipes. You can find the complete feature, here.  Try not to miss it. It contains some great recipes and  you'll enjoy the time you spend there.


From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This week's Frugal Foodie Friday feature is the first in a series of posts that will explore ways to use inexpensive chicken parts. Not to worry, I'm talkin' chicken drumsticks, not innards or parts with odd sounding names and slippery surfaces. For reasons I don't fully understand, the cost of drumsticks has not inflated as quickly as other chicken parts and they remain a bargain, even when not on sale. Tonight's recipe comes from Food.com where it has it's called, Japanese Mum's Chicken. Chicken prepared in this manner is very popular in Japanese homes and there are as many versions of this recipe as there are Japanese moms to cook it. This recipe, though simple, is exceptional, but it contains one ingredient that is beyond the reach of those with truly limited food budgets. Balsamic vinegar is expensive and its cost could feed a family of four for at least two nights. I have found a way around that with a simple substitute that is workable in this recipe and others like it. If you combine a tablespoon of apple cider or red wine vinegar with a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar you have a reasonable substitute for balsamic vinegar. In the recipe below, a mix of 1/2 cup vinegar with 4 teaspoons sugar will give you a sufficient quantity of poor man's vinegar to make this recipe workable. This method of cooking and the marinade in which the drumsticks cook works well for chicken wings as well. This recipe is fast, easy and inexpensive. It is also delicious. I hope you will enjoy it. Here's the recipe.

Japanese-Style Chicken Drumsticks...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Food.com

Ingredients:
8 chicken drumsticks, skin on
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

Directions:
1) Place all ingredients (chicken through chili) in a deep skillet and bring contents to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, spooning off surface scum as needed, for about 20 minutes.
2) Increase heat, turning drumsticks frequently, and cook until liquid has reduced to a sticky glaze, about10 minutes longer.
3) Arrange chicken on a serving platter, remove garlic clove and chili from the liquid, then spoon remainder of glaze over chicken. Serve immediately. Yield: 4 servings.







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