Chicken & Pineapple Kabobs with Chili Garlic Sauce

Chunks of chicken and pineapple coated with a sticky and spicy chili garlic sauce.

I’m a recipe collector. I love to read magazines and tear out pages of recipes I plan to try. I have boxes of pages that one day I hope to organize and test. Sometimes I think about just tossing them out, but then I sift through them and vow I’m going to make each one before I die. Of course, if I do, I’ll have to live to 110. I have that many!

I make this kabob quite often for my family because it’s a nice change from regular barbecue chicken. Then one day I made it for a small party at my house and everyone raved about it, so I thought I should add it to Big Bang Bites. For parties, I use short five-inch bamboo skewers to make bite-size kabobs as you can see in the photo. And it’s best grilled on an outdoor barbecue, so the skin gets charred.

It’s actually an adaptation of a recipe I found in Bon Appetit last year. Their recipe was tasty, but way too spicy with a quarter cup of Sriracha sauce. We felt like we couldn’t savor the chicken because our mouths were on fire. So, I cut down on the heat by eliminating the Sriracha sauce, added fresh pineapple chunks for some sweet, tart flavor and splashed in some chili garlic sauce. I’ve used canned pineapple, but trust me, fresh is so much better. You won’t regret the extra work.

Makes about 15 to 20

• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 T Sambal Oelek (found in the Asian food aisle)
• ¼ cup fish sauce (found in the Asian food aisle)
• 2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
• 2 T chili garlic sauce (found in the Asian food aisle - reduce according to taste)
• 1½ pounds boneless chicken thighs with skin, cut into 1½-inch pieces
• 15 to 20 pieces of fresh pineapple cut into 1½-inch pieces
• 5-inch bamboo skewers soaked in water

Soak the skewers in water. Combine the brown sugar, rice vinegar, Sambal Oelek, fish sauce, ginger and garlic sauce in a big bowl. Add the chicken chunks and marinate for about half an hour.

Meanwhile, prepare your pineapple chunks and get the coals going.

Thread two pieces of chicken and one piece of pineapple in the middle onto each skewer. Do not discard the marinade.

Put the marinade in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and continue to boil for about 10 minutes until reduced to about half. Remove from heat.

Grill the kabobs. Turn and baste the cooked side with marinade. Turn again and baste the other side. Grill until done, about 8 to 10 minutes.