Jerk Chicken

What springs to mind when you think of Jamaica ? Sun? Beaches? Reggae? Bob Marley?!?!?

Maybe its just my foody mind at work, but I think of Jerk chicken, possibly the ultimate summer barbecue recipe! Jerk marinade can be used for any type of meat or fish but is particularly tasty with chicken legs and pork ribs.

The key ingredients to jerk chicken are allspice or pimento berries, thyme and scotch bonnet peppers. Everything else is supplementary but these 3 ingredients are unmissable. If you don't use them you may still have some delicious barbecued chicken but it won't be jerk chicken!

Ingredients

6 chicken legs (drumstick and thigh together)

3 spring onions (scallions)

1 Tb chopped fresh thyme or about 1/2 Tb dried thyme

1/2 Tb allspice/pimento berries crushed or 1/2 Tb pimento powder

2 Scotch Bonnet peppers

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 Tb brown sugar

3 cloves garlic crushed

1 onion finely chopped

1/2 cup soy sauce (approx 100ml)

1/2 cup orange juice (approx 100ml)

1/4 cup vinegar (approx 50ml)

1/4 cup sunflower oil (approx 50ml)

2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp grated ginger or ginger powder

Method

Clean the chicken legs thoroughly but leave the skin on. Use a sharp knife to carefully cut slits in the chicken legs so that the jerk marinade can penetrate the meat and give a fuller delicious flavour. Put the chicken legs into a large bowl.

All the ingredients except for the chicken should be placed in a food mixer and then blitzed on high speed until you have a smooth marinade

If you don't want too much heat in your chicken, remove the seeds and white membrane from the scotch bonnet peppers. As always when handling peppers take extreme caution - either use gloves or a clear plastic bag over your hands, and make sure you wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.

Pour the marinade over the chicken legs, cover and put in the fridge for several hours or overnight.

Cook the marinaded chicken in an oven at 180 C for about 1 and a 1/2 hours. Or for authentic Jamaican jerk chicken, put on a large barbecue on medium heat with the lid on but air holes open for about 45 minutes, using the indirect heat method. Turn occasionally so the chicken gets cooked nicely all over.

Any remaining marinade can be heated in a pan over a medium heat for about 20 minutes until it thickens nicely. This jerk sauce will give your chicken that extra oomph!

Test the chicken by cutting into the thickest part or near the joint. It should be white all the way through. If its still pink then cook a bit longer. Don't worry if the skin goes black, this is how jerk chicken should look (unless of course you have burnt it black in which case try again with a lower heat!!!)

Jamaican jerk chicken is perfect with rice and peas and a simple salad. 

Enjoy!

DID YOU KNOW? 

The basic jerk chicken recipe actually has its origins in West African cuisine, and was brought over to the Caribbean by African slaves, where it was adapted and refined with the introduction of the Scotch Bonnet pepper and other local ingredients.

DID YOU KNOW?

There is some confusion as to where the term barbecue originates. The most accepted theory is that it is borrowed from the Arawak word barabicu, meaning "sacred fire pit". The alternative theory is that it is taken from the French barbe-à-queue, meaning "beard to tail", and describing the method how animals were attached to a spit and roasted over an open fire.

I don't know which theory is correct, but I do know that barbecue tastes delicious!!!