ah, jerk chicken… the name just doesnt really seem to justify just how awesome this bad boy is….
its not for the faint hearted – its spicy, strong and smacks you across the jawbone with flavour and intensity.
and thats just why i love it. my husband would self confess that he doesnt often come up with the dinner ideas but when i do leave it up to him, the choice is always……
jerk chicken.
serving suggestions: serve this with a fresh salad, baked kumara chips, caribbean style rice (there are some good recipes on the internet for this!)…
…. or just grab some wraps and chuck your chicken in some wraps with lettuce, fresh tomato, coriander and corn. YUM.
cooking the chicken: in a frypan, on a BBQ or on an open fire.
the best is the open fire…. for obvious reasons – the smoke and char elevates the chicken to next level….
ingredients
2 dried birds eye chillies (or more if you want it spicier – this is already pretty spicy)
2 tbls whole allspice (toasted and ground)
bunch spring onions, roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3 cms fresh ginger, roughly chopped
1 tsp dried thyme, or 3 tbslp fresh thyme
3 limes, zest and juice
1 lemon, juice only
3 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
2 tblsp rice bran oil (or canola, or rapeseed)
8 chicken thighs – boned or deboned (up to you!)
method
put all ingredients in a food processor or stick blender and whizz until it forms a paste. add some more oil if its not coming together very well.
coat the chicken with the paste and set aside for as long as possible – overnight is the best… but 2 hours will be enough to get lots of flavour in.
to cook on fry pan, heat fry pan to hot hot hot. oil the pan and then fry the chicken in batches – dont overcrowd the pan or you wont get the char thats so necessary with this chicken!
dont undercook that marinade, even if the chicken is cooked, make sure that the marinade gets nicely browned, almost black and charred in places… thats where the flavour kicks in and it provides a bit of crunch as well.
ReplicATE It. 