Marcus Samuelsson’s chicken with mumbo sauce layers sweetness and spice

If you pay any attention to the restaurant scene, food television or the world of celebrity chefs, Marcus Samuelsson needs no introduction. The Ethiopian-born, Swedish-raised chef has been a big name in food since the 1990s, when he became the executive chef at Aquavit in New York City. He’s helmed many restaurants since, the latest being Marcus DC in Washington, where he is “serving some of the most personal food of his career,” according to Post dining critic Tom Sietsema.

“When [executive chef Anthony Jones] and I put the menu together at Marcus DC, we really wanted to look inward toward the DMV,” Samuelsson told me. “Our references needed to be local, not just from food and season, but also from culture. … For me, it starts very often with music.” Digging into the ethos of the city led them to create a menu item called “Chuck B’s Roast Chicken,” named after Chuck Brown, who was known as “The Godfather of Go-Go,” and features a spatchcocked chicken lacquered with mumbo sauce.

“I did not know that mumbo sauce was so regional to D.C.,” Samuelsson said. If you, too, are unfamiliar with the local delicacy, it’s often described as a cross between sweet-and-sour sauce and barbecue sauce, and it can come in a range of spice levels. Also called “mambo” sauce, it is popular at local Chinese carryout restaurants drizzled atop fried chicken wings and french fries or fried rice. It exemplifies “this intersection that happens a lot in inner cities across America, where African American cooking and culture and Chinese takeout culture meet,” Samuelsson said.

His version of the District’s beloved sauce starts by sautéing shallots or onions, Fresno chiles, and ginger. Then in go ketchup, pineapple juice, gochujang, granulated sugar, apple cider vinegar, honey, soy sauce, lemon juice and a pinch of cayenne pepper. This all simmers together before getting blended until smooth.

I’m a big fan of mumbo sauce — partly because it is so similar to my hometown, Chicago’s, mild sauce — but Samuelsson’s version strikes a new chord. There are various layers of sweetness, spice and acidity, with the latter coming in the form of pineapple juice, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice; as well as savory and fermented notes — rarely found in other versions I’ve tried — thanks to soy sauce and gochujang. (“I don’t think back in the day that there was gochujang in this sauce,” Samuelsson said.)

“For the guests, we just want it to be delicious. But as we think about it, it’s a lot of different notes,” he said. “Just like music, with food, we layer it, too.”

At Marcus DC, the kitchen sous-vides the chicken so it is moist throughout. (At home, you can accomplish similar results by baking it at 275°F for about 2 hours, until it is cooked through.) It then gets brushed with the sauce and put in a scorching hot oven. “The high heat is really going to create a caramelization that really helps to make it even more delicious and sticky,” Samuelsson said.

A salad of radicchio, herbs, cooked and raw carrots, and dukkah — a Middle Eastern blend of nuts, seeds and spices — adds freshness and texture. “Texture is such a big part of cooking. I think home chefs sometimes don’t realize how much we as chefs are inspired by creating different textures,” Samuelsson said. “They’re kind of like our speakers. If you go to a music concert, it wouldn’t work without the speakers.”

As he finished up the salad and remembered the chicken in the oven, Samuelsson was struck by an idea: “You know what? I’m going to lacquer it again … because the sauce is really everything on this.” And I couldn’t agree more. The depth of flavor and kick of heat in his sauce put it in a class of its own.

For my version, I focused on the star of the show — the chicken — and made a few modifications to make it weeknight-friendly. For starters, I opted for my favorite cut, bone-in, skin-on thighs, and cranked up the oven heat for a shorter cooking time while still ending up with moist, juicy meat. For the mumbo sauce, I scaled down the yield, reducing it by more than three-quarters, and pruned the ingredient list ever so slightly. (My version also eliminates the need for a blender.) When it was time to brush on the mumbo sauce, I opted for a triple coating to make the chicken, per Samuelsson’s description, “even more delicious and sticky.”

“Yes, it’s chicken, but it’s also making food that everybody has a relatability to and making it just a little bit better, improving it. That for me is key in so many dishes,” Samuelsson said. And in that regard, this lip-smackingly delicious bird certainly delivers.

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Roast Chicken Thighs With Mumbo Sauce

For the chicken:

6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (3 pounds total), trimmed of excess fat, if desired

Fine salt

Freshly ground black pepper

For the mumbo sauce:

1 teaspoon neutral oil, such as canola or peanut

1 tablespoon minced or finely grated fresh ginger

1 cup ketchup

½ cup pineapple juice

¼ cup gochujang*

¼ cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons soy sauce, preferably reduced-sodium

⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (from ½ lemon)

Fine salt

Make the chicken: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400°F.

Line a large sheet pan with foil or parchment paper, and set a wire rack on top. Pat the chicken dry, and lightly sprinkle both sides with salt and black pepper. Transfer the thighs to the wire rack, skin side up and evenly spaced. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the skin is somewhat browned and crisp, and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of each thigh away from the bone registers at least 165°F.

Make the mumbo sauce: While the chicken is roasting, in a medium (3-quart) saucepan over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the ginger and cook, stirring once or twice, until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds. Add the ketchup, pineapple juice, gochujang, sugar, vinegar, honey, soy sauce and cayenne pepper, and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, and cook until the sugar dissolves and the sauce thickens slightly, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Taste, and season with salt, as desired. You should have about 1½ cups.

Glaze the chicken: Remove the chicken from the oven. Carefully raise the rack 5 to 6 inches away from the broiling element, and preheat the broiler to HIGH. Brush the chicken with some of the mumbo sauce and broil for 1 minute, or until the sauce bubbles on the skin of the chicken. Repeat twice more to build up a nice glaze. (It’s okay if the chicken chars in spots, but keep a watchful eye. You will not use all the sauce.) Serve hot, with the remaining sauce on the side, or reserve it for another use.

Servings: 3-6

Storage: Refrigerate the chicken for up to 4 days. Refrigerate the sauce for up to 2 weeks.

*Where to buy: Gochujang can be found in well-stocked supermarkets, Asian markets or online.

Substitutions: For pineapple juice, use orange juice. For granulated sugar, use brown sugar. For apple cider vinegar, use white wine vinegar or rice vinegar. For honey, use agave or maple syrup. For soy sauce, use tamari or coconut aminos. Gluten-free? Use gluten-free tamari and gluten-free gochujang.

Nutritional Facts per serving (1 thigh plus 4 teaspoons sauce), based on 6 | Calories: 554, Fat: 40 g, Saturated Fat: 12 g, Carbohydrates: 13 g, Sodium: 563 mg, Cholesterol: 200 mg, Protein: 4 g, Fiber: 0 g, Sugar: 10 g

— Adapted from chef Marcus Samuelsson