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1
Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, pineapple juice, ketchup, ginger, garlic and sesame oil in a bowl and whisk until the sugar dissolves. Reserve half the sauce separately for basting; it must not be contaminated with raw chicken. Submerge the chicken halves in the remaining sauce and marinate, covered, under refrigeration. The flesh should be visibly stained a deep amber before proceeding.
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2
Prepare a kiawe-coal fire and allow it to burn down to glowing embers with no visible flame. Arrange the chicken halves skin-side up in hinged wire baskets and secure the lids. Position over the coals. The coals are ready when you can hold a hand at grill height for no more than three seconds.
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3
Grill the chicken, turning the baskets as needed, until the flesh is cooked almost entirely through — the juices at the thigh joint run pale pink to clear and the meat has firmed throughout when pressed. Apply no sauce during this phase. The surface should be dry and lightly coloured, not charred.
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4
This is where the dish lives or dies. Once the chicken is mostly cooked through, brush the reserved basting sauce over both sides in a thin, even layer. Return to the coals and turn the baskets. Watch each application: the sauce must caramelise to a tacky, slightly darkened glaze before the next coat is brushed on. Repeat this cycle — brush, turn, caramelise — for a minimum of four to five applications. The layering is the technique; a single application produces teriyaki chicken, not huli huli.
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5
The chicken is finished when it carries a deep lacquered crust that is mahogany in colour, glossy, and set firm to the touch without being brittle. The sweet smoke rising from the caramelising glaze should be perceptible from a distance. Rest briefly before serving.