This Huli Huli Chicken is simple to throw together, healthy and flavorful. It is a great freezer meal, big batch meal and kid or picky eater meal.
Days like today I wish I lived in Hawaii. It would always be warm, there would be no accountants, and I would have my fill of Huli Huli Chicken!!!
Since I live in Idaho and since I suspect you still have to deal with tax preparation even in HI, I developed a super yummy chicken recipe I can make at home on the fly. I may not have the beach but my dinner would make even the pickiest eater look twice!
This recipe is as close as I can get to the delicious Sweet Shoyu chicken Jonathan and I used to order at Local Boyz Hawaiian Cafe for years and years. If you ever visit Corvallis, OR take time to grab lunch there. It’s delicious!
Huli Huli Chicken and Shoyu chicken are both versions of Hawaiian chicken that have sweet hints of brown sugar and pineapple with Asian undertones of ginger and soy sauce. The chicken is succulent and surprisingly easy to prepare!
It needs stirring for a few minutes while you gather everything together but after that you just let it simmer on the stove until it’s done. If you are lucky enough to have leftovers freeze them for a meal down the road. You won’t regret having such a tasty and healthy meal ready on the fly!
Traditionally serve this with some sort of teriyaki or soy sauce, steamed white rice and Mac Salad. I always serve some broccoli too. If you need to spice it up serve sweet chili sauce on the side.
See? Taxes come for us all but at least you can have yummy vacation food for dinner tonight.
Note on the cooking pan: I use a 15.5 quart Le Creuset 
Hawaiian Shoyu or Huli Huli Chicken (Local Boyz Copycat)
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. canola oil
- 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
- 3 pounds boneless / skinless chicken thighs
- 1 large onion
- 1 Tbsp. Knorr chicken bouillon
- 1 Tbsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper coursely ground
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup fresh ginger peeled and grated
- 2 cups pineapple juice
- 1 cup low sodium soy sauce
Instructions
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In a large dutch oven type pot (preferably Le Crususet), heat canola and sesame oil over medium-high heat.
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Add the boneless/skinless chicken thighs to the oil without cutting them up. Stir as needed while the chicken browns.
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Peel onion, slice it in half and thinly slice both halves. Add that and continue to stir as needed while the chicken browns.
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Meanwhile, peel the ginger and grate it using a microplane or other grater.
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Once the chicken is browned and the onions have softened a bit add the ginger and everything else. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook uncovered for 30-45 minutes until the meat can be shredded easily with a fork.
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Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the juices and shred with two forks. Place the meat in a serving bowl and add about 1 cup of the juices back into the meat. If you want it really juicy you can add some more and serve it with a slotted spoon for those that want theirs partly drained.
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Serve the chicken with any or all of the following: rice, mac salad, broccoli, soy sauce, Yoshida Gourmet Sauce, sweet chili sauce or fresh pineapple slices.
Recipe Notes
Don't be afraid to cook with sesame oil if it's new to you! I never liked the way it smelled or looked so I avoided it. Just a little goes a long way to subtle flavor that enhances this dish without making it taste like sesame at all. Like any oil there are lots of different levels of quality. It's fine to buy a cheep bottle in your local supermarket for this recipe. I have found it at Winco for under $5 plenty of times. Now that I do SO much Asian cooking we buy it in large cans at HMart other similar stores.
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Where do you get your pineapple juice? Do you buy it just like you would grapefruit juice, etc, or do you take it from the cans of pineapple chunks or pineapple tidbits, or whatever?
I usually use a can of juice but the juice from a can of pineapple would work too as long as it is the fruit canned in juice. I also love the fresh pineapple juice available in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe’s but it is more expensive.
I’m making this for the second time today. It doesn’t taste quite as strong as the Schwindt recipe, and I like the flavor with the pineapple and ginger. I confess, I just load up a crock pot with the ingredients and let it go – maybe it’s not quite as good that way, but it’s easy and I think it tastes great!
I’m so glad you like it that much! You are the second reader who has said they make this in the crock pot so I did a few test batches and found that the chicken texture was often problematic. It seemed to be a bit hit and miss in my crock pot which was a bummer. It should be the perfect crock pot recipe!
I did use frozen pieces of chicken without thawing first. Maybe that would affect the texture? Or maybe I just don’t know what good texture is. 😉
Using frozen chicken could make the chicken cook slower and maybe that meant you cooked it less time. I think I need to try it again and see if I can come up with something consistent. If it tastes good to you than the texture is fine!
I used half the amount of ginger and it is so strong, I can’t eat it. It’s burning my throat. I added more brown sugar and pineapple juice, still the ginger is so strong.
Hi Angie, I’m sorry the recipe did not work out for you. We make this all the time and feed even to small kids. Different people experience spices differently and you might be extra sensitive to something in here. The other thing I wondered about is the pepper. Black pepper comes in many sizes of grinds. If yours is very powdery – almost like dust – it could be the problem. I use a more course grind which is less strong. Be aware that the smaller your grind of black pepper the more strong it will be. It is also possible that the garlic powder or red pepper flakes are what is bothering you. I know how frustrating it is to cook something and not be able to eat it. I’m sorry you had this experience!
I made this, Da sauce, and the macaroni salad recipes and it nails Local Boyz. This will not be understood by anyone that hasn’t actually been there but, you even get the Local Boyz “hangover” after over indulging because it is so good you eat way too much. Great recipe and any time I’m longing for a memory of Corvallis I’ll definitely make this. Great on an overcast day 😉
Thanks, Eric! You made our day. Happy Eating!
Too funny, we live in Corvallis and this was exactly the recipe I was looking for on Pinterest because of Local Boyz ! Thanks for sharing !
Lucky girl! I love it here in Boise but I miss my hometown. Enjoy!
So I just made it last night and the mac salad as well and it was EXACTLY like Local Boyz ! My husband and kids raved !!!! Thank you !!
I grew up in Corvallis and have sadly lived away from there for about a dozen years. Every trip back makes me salivate at the thought of a run to Local Boyz. Well, I made this last night. It was perfection. So wonderfully delicious and exactly what I didn’t dare to hope it would be. My whole family loved it. Thank you so so so much!
Anne that is SO good to hear! We live in Boise, ID now but do get back to Corvallis now and again. Local Boyz is almost always on the menu when we do. So many good memories there and of course the food! I’m so glad this hit the spot for you – it is a treasure in our family for sure!