Malaysian Garlic Ginger Chicken

One of my May Joy list items is to make food from a location I have never tried before.  I picked up a Malaysian paperback cookbook for a quarter at a going out of business sale a while back, and had never even looked at it before today.  My only "rule" when looking at the recipes was to make something that would clear an item from the freezer and use only ingredients I had on hand. Well I am not sure about the rest of you, but I rarely have an octopus, or fresh lemon grass, or lime leaves or a ton of other things the recipes in the book called for, so when I finally found this recipe I quit flipping through the book. Woo hoo, dinner was ready to roll.
                                             

     Malaysian Ginger Garlic Chicken

1 1/2 pound chicken drumsticks
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 inch section fresh ginger, peeled and minced
7 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1/8 teaspoon five spice powder
black pepper to taste (1/4ish teaspoon)

Put the chicken in a ziplock bag and pour the marinade over the chicken.  Let it sit for at least 30 minutes in the fridge. Take it out of the bag and put the chicken in a greased baking dish. If you are like me and like to live dangerously pour the marinade over the chicken and bake for 35 minutes at 375.  It is going to get blazing hot and cook any evil bacteria to smithereens.  If you are a little squeamish then double the marinade and leave the other recipe to pour over the chicken and toss the marinade that was used down the drain. Everyone has their own comfort level. (I will only use it if whatever I make is going to be cooked  300 + degrees for a long time.  I would never use it to brush on anything grilled). I put aluminum foil on top of mine and I will not do that again. The sauce was more of a liquid instead of a thick rich sauce. I think open cooking would have created a sticky sauce that would have been even tastier. My mistake. Learn from mine instead of making it yourself.

Oh my goodness was this stuff delicious! We are definitely going to put this in our regular eats location.  I served it over rice and the sauce dripped down making a delicious, from bottom to top meal. I am even considering tripling the sauce and freezing it with chicken in vacuum sealed bags, just to have it a quick thaw and bake meal.  If you want something that is easy peasy and tempting to the tongue, this is it.

For the record, this is not at all hot but is deliciously spicy. It made my mouth very happy!

It may or may not be authentically Malaysian, but I am counting it since it was directly from a Malaysian cookbook.  If it isn't and you know it is not, please humor me and let me remain delusional!