Spicy Jerk Chicken
A fiery Jamaican classic made with chicken thighs, scotch bonnet chillis, allspice, garlic and ginger.
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
Method
Cut the tops off and halve the scotch bonnet chillis and add to a food processor along with the brown sugar, spring onions, roughly chopped ginger, allspice, fresh thyme leaves, grated nutmeg, soy sauce, vegetable oil and the zest and juice of a lime, finally crush in the garlic and blitz to a smooth paste.
Tip: use food safe disposable gloves (or avoid touching the inside of the chilli) when handling hot chillis like scotch bonnets as any residue left on your hands can be transferred when touching your eyes or other sensitive body parts
Add the chicken to a large dish or ziplock bags then pour over the jerk sauce. Using tongs (or your hands if using gloves) coat the chicken in the jerk marinade. Place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
For best result turn the chicken - or give your ziplock bag a shake - every so often to make sure the marinade distributes evenly
Heat you BBQ/grill, if you're using charcoal keep it on one side of the bbq/grill, then cook your chicken thighs over indirect heat (i.e. not over the bbq coals) to prevent the outside from burning. Put the lid on and cook for around 40-45 minutes until cooked, turning halfway through.
Tip: Use a meat thermometer to check doneness when cooking over an open flame as the temperature of the bbq/grill will change during cooking. It should reach an internal temperature of 74C/165F
How to Cook Jerk Chicken
Carefully halve the scotch bonnet chillis without touching the inside (or use food safe gloves) and add to a food processor along with the 1 tsp of allspice, 2 tbsp brown sugar, the white ends of 6 spring onions , a 2 inch piece of chopped ginger, 2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg, 3 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp vegetable oil and the zest and juice of a lime, then crush in 5 cloves of garlic.
Blitz until you have a smooth paste.
Place 8 chicken thighs in a baking dish (or you can use ziplock bags if your prefer) and pour over the jerk marinade.
Wearing a pair of food safe gloves - or using a pair of tongs - toss the chicken in the jerk marinade ensuring to fully coat. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 4 hours, turning occasionally.
Heat your BBQ/grill - placing any charcoal on one side - I choose to place my charcoal at the front and chicken at the back - cover and cook over indirect heat for around 40-45 minutes, turning halfway through. If you want a little more char on your chicken skin you can place the thighs directly over the coals for a few minutes at the end of cooking.
Use a meat thermometer to check the chicken is done, it should read 74C/165F and serve immediately. This jerk chicken goes great with rice and a fresh salad.
Questions and Substitutions
What are scotch bonnet chillis?
Scotch bonnet chillis are a very hot chilli that have been grown and used in Jamaican cuisine for centuries, avoid touching the inside or use food safe gloves as the residue from the chilli can stay on your hands (especially under your finger nails) and you will notice if you touch your eyes or other sensitive body parts! I've gone for two scotch bonnets in this recipe, which makes it very fiery without being overwhelmingly hot, however, feel free to take it up a notch by adding 1 or 2 more chillis if you like serious heat. Scotch bonnets are readily available in UK supermarkets, however, If you can't find them then you can substitute them with other hot chillis such as habaneros or even 4-5 birds eye chillis to approximate the heat, however the flavour will be slightly different.
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