Jerk Chicken
Marinade
1 Whole Chicken – cut length ways along the backbone and flatten out
2 Thumbs of Ginger
1 Brown Onion
3 Hot Chillies (red) – scotch bonnets if available
2 Tspn All Spice
2 Bay leaves
Spring Onion
Limes
Thyme
Soy Sauce
Olive Oil
Sauce:
Some Marinade
Tomato Sauce
Dark Soy
Rice:
1 Cup Rice
¾ Cups Kidney Beans
1 Cup Coconut Milk
1 Cup Water
Thyme
Chilli
Method
- Pound all ingredients of the marinade to a semi fine paste (or food processor). Marinate the chicken in the jerk spices. Leave some marinade for the sauce.
- For the sauce, heat up the left over spice mix then add tomato sauce and dark soy. Cook until melded together.
- Cook the chicken on smokey BBQ (Webber’s are good). The smokey flavour along with the flavours of the marinade are the important aspects to get right in this recipe.
- For the rice, place the rice in the pot and wash until the water turns clear. Add all ingredients in a pot, cook on low with a tight fitting lid for 14minutes without lifting the lid for a peek.
- Serve with rice or bread and the sauce.
I am always fascinated with food from other countries. There is so much to learn from other cultures. My sister lives in the Grand Cayman Islands. It was on that island where I first experienced jerk chicken with much anticipation. I watched it being cooked in an old tin shed with smoke bellowing out from it on a hot sunny day. I fell in love with the smokey, spicy flavours of Jamaican food. They served it wrapped in news paper and with bread that was slightly sweet. Amongst other food I experienced and fell in love with on my trip, jerk chicken became a food memory I will never forget.
Photo by Jun Pang