A new entry in our hardcore garlic series! We made a sequel to our popular creamy garlic chicken thighs by upping the garlic content to 50 cloves. It sounds overwhelming, but cooking the cloves until golden brown mellows out its usual pungent flavor. Once simmered, the cloves become sweet, jammy, and delicious enough to eat whole.
Extracting 50 cloves from fresh garlic is a big mountain to climb, especially on a busy weekday. Save time and use pre-peeled garlic. No one will notice the difference, since the cloves cook long enough until they’re soft, sweet, and caramelized anyways.
Can’t get enough of garlic? Want to find out if your dinner guest is an aswang? Try out our Hardcore Garlic Fried Rice (Sinangag) and Hardcore Garlic Salpicao.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 6–8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 3 tbsp neutral oil
- 50 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1–2 cups chicken stock or water
- zest from half a lemon
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- ½ cup all-purpose or heavy cream
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard (optional)
Prepare chicken: Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season all over with salt.
Sear chicken: Heat neutral oil in a wide skillet or sauté pan over medium heat. Once light wisps of smoke start to appear, add chicken thighs skin side down, working in batches as necessary, and cook undisturbed until skin is golden brown (spots of darker brown are OK and more delicious), about 10 to 15 minutes. Flip chicken over to cook the other side until golden brown, about 3–5 minutes. Transfer chicken skin side up on a plate.
Cook garlic & aromatics: In the same pan, add the garlic cloves to the rendered out chicken fat. Cook, stirring from time to time, until most of the cloves are golden brown. Add chicken stock and scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add lemon zest, juice, and rosemary. Let simmer to infuse the broth with flavor, about 5 minutes.
Finish sauce: Add cream and Dijon mustard (if using). Stir to combine. Return chicken thighs to the pan, skin side up, and continue simmering until chicken is cooked through, about 5–7 minutes. Season sauce to taste.
Serve: Transfer chicken thighs to a serving plate. Pour cream sauce over the chicken, garlic cloves and all. Serve hot with lots of steamed rice or crusty bread.
