"What is this flavor in the chicken?” my mom asked, still trying to identify it herself. “Is it tasty?” I answered her question with a question, “yes, but I can’t tell what is it”. “Silan” I said, “you add silan to chicken?” “yes, and soy sauce too”.
I wasn’t surprised that mom didn’t identify the flavors. To her, as well as for me before I started cooking, Silan was used in cakes and especially in charoset for Passover. Soy sauce, on the other hand, was never part of my parents’ palette. Combining both seemed impossible for them, yet mom enjoyed every bite. “I never thought about using silan in cooking” said mom, “can Ihave another piece of chicken?”
Ingredients
8 chicken thighs (drumstick works well too or a mixture of both)
¼ cup silan (dates honey)
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ port wine
2 TBS olive oil
2 TBS red wine vinaigrette
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp ground cloves
4-5 dried hot chilli pepper (optional)
Salt and black pepper to taste
Mix all marinade ingredients in a large deep bowl. Add chicken and toss to cover well. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 4 hours (overnight prefered).
Heat oven to 350 F. place chicken in a deep oven pan, pour the remaining marinade on top of it. Roast for 1 ½ hours, until chicken is browned, wetting the chicken occasionally with the marinade in the pan.
