Sous Vide Korean BBQ Chicken

Ingredients

• 10 to 12 chicken bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/3 cup gochujang Korean chili sauce
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• Sesame seeds, garnish
• Scallions, garnish

Directions

1. Make the sauce first: in a medium bowl, mix together the hoisin sauce, gochujang, vinegar, honey, and soy sauce until smooth, then keep it nearby. Coat the chicken with about 1/3 cup of that sauce, using just enough to lightly cover all the thighs. Hold on to the rest of the sauce for basting later.
2. Slide the thighs into a plastic freezer bag, arranging the chicken in a single layer. If the pieces want to pile on top of each other, use 2 bags instead.
3. Seal the chicken by pressing as much air as you can out of the bag with your hands, then closing the top partway. Lower the bag slowly into a pot of water, stopping near the top of the bag, and keep encouraging the air out as it goes under. Once the water has pushed the air out and you have reached the top, seal the bag closed.
4. If you are not cooking right away, dry the bag and freeze the chicken for up to 3 months before cooking.
5. When it is time to cook, set your Joule or another immersion circulator in the pot of water and bring the water to 158 degrees F.
6. Put the chicken into the hot water, checking that every thigh is completely under the surface. Cook for 3 to 5 hours; anywhere in that window works. If the chicken is going in frozen, cook it for at least 4 hours.
7. During the cook, keep the bags fully underwater the whole time. Rotate the bags once halfway through if you like, so everything heats as evenly as possible.
8. Get a gas or charcoal grill very hot, about 500 degrees F, or hot enough that you can hold your hand 1 inch above the grates for only 1 to 2 seconds.
9. Take the chicken out of the bags and move it to a platter. Set the thighs on the grill skin-side up and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Brush on some of the reserved sauce, then turn the chicken so the skin-side is down.
10. Brush with more sauce and grill for another 1 to 2 minutes. At that point, you should see good grill marks on both sides. If you want, keep brushing with BBQ sauce and turning the chicken a few more times. The chicken is already cooked, so this grill time is just for searing the outside.
11. Once the chicken has been grilled on both sides, take it off the grill and move it to a clean platter. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and scallions, then serve immediately.