My boyfriend is picky when it comes to food. A dish has to excel at taste, presentation and texture to impress him. The benefit of having a “food critic” at home is whenever I make a dish that he really likes, I feel like I have accomplished something! This honey baked chicken drumstick lollipops with a Asian-style honey sauce I made yesterday has received many compliments from my picky boyfriend (he cleared the entire plate lol). It makes me confident that many people may like this recipe too!
This is a fusion recipe, a mix of the Chinese and Japanese style. I have made this dish a few times before and after several trials, I settled with this one. The sweet and spicy honey sauce (for marination) gives the chicken a perfect balanced flavor and gorgeous brown color.
The lollipop shape helps to prevent the bony end of the drumsticks from drying out before the meaty end gets fully cooked. And to makes them convenient to grab and appealing to the eye, I wrapped the bony ends with small pieces of foil before putting into the oven.
Baked at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes, the drumsticks will come out nicely with a slight char has developed on the outside yet still super tender inside. I sprinkled scallion and roasted sesame seeds as garnish for this dish.
Whether served as an appetizer or a side dish in a meal, this delicious Baked Honey Chicken Drumstick Lollipops will be a great dish to share with your family, friends and sure to impress everyone at the table!
I hope you enjoy making this tasty baked honey chicken drumstick lollipops at home. If you like this recipe, please leave a rating and share it with your friends!
- 1 pound chicken drumsticks
- Marination:
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 2 teaspoons ground paprika
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- Garnishing:
- 1 stalk scallion, chopped
- a handful of roasted sesame seeds
- In a small bowl, whisk together honey, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, mirin, ground paprika and ketchup, set aside.
- Create "lollipops" by placing each chicken drumstick on a cutting board, cutting the non-meat end around the bone with a knife (the white tendon is tough and will require a bit effort to cut off ); holding the bony end with one hand, pushing the meat up and toward the meaty end with the other hand. (Scrape the exposed bone with the knife to remove any flesh.)
- Transfer the drumsticks into a large ziploc bag.
- Pour the sauce mixture over the drumsticks in the bag.
- Seal and place the bag in the fridge, marinate for at least 3 hours, preferably 6-8 hours (no more than 12 hours).
- Transfer the marinated drumsticks onto a plate, wrap their bony ends with small pieces of foil.
- Line a baking pan with foil, and place the drumsticks on the foil.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C), place baking pan on the middle oven rack and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove baking pan from the oven and let it sit for 2-3 minutes.
- Move the drumsticks onto a plate, sprinkle on top chopped scallion and roasted sesame seeds to serve.