Jerk Chicken Marinade Recipe
"REAL JERK CHICKEN IS NEVER BAKED IN AN
OVEN IT SHOULD BE CHARCOAL GRILLED"
Jerk Marinated Chicken with Festival Fried Dough Dumplings and "Fire in Your Wire Hot Sauce."
Files & Tags: chicken, jamaican, caribbean & latin american, recipes, index, soy sauce, chili pepper
Files & Tags: chicken, jamaican, caribbean & latin american, recipes, index, soy sauce, chili pepper
The Ultimate Jerk Marinade Recipe
By Simbooker on Friday, May 24, 2013
This will be my first Recipe Post. And I have to be honest; sharing my first recipe leaves me with a slight feeling of trepidation, as I'm not your conventional food blogger. Many of my recipes are closely guarded secrets, for now. And moreover, I want to save much of my recipes for when the time comes for me to release them in the form of a Cook Book. But the time has finally come for me to share my love of Jamaican food, with fellow food bloggers and food lovers.
A Sublime tasting Jerk can only start with a superb marinade. And this is mine. If you have visited this blog before and read about my passion for food and Jerk, you will know that I've previously mentioned that Jerking should never be done in a gas oven. It either has to be barbecued or charcoal grilled, as the smoky flavor of the meat is what makes Jerk so succulent, flavorful and tasty. However, if you do decide to go the dreaded oven route, just bare in mind that it won't be Real Jerk Chicken, instead it will be Jerk Seasoned Chicken AND IT WILL NOT TASTE ANYWHERE NEAR AS GOOD AS THE REAL JERK CHICKEN.
I've never eaten Jerk Chicken with anything but a Jamaican fried dough dumpling called a Festival; commonly served with Jerk chicken AND FRIED FISH on the Island. Festival dumplings are absolutely delicious, and provide a nice comforting contrast to the peppery and smoky Jerk chicken, creating a party like flavor in your mouth.
However, you can serve Jerk chicken or Pork for that matter, with whatever sparks your desire whether it be a salad, rice and peas/beans, boiled or fried yam or yuca; which would be my second choice, or whatever else takes your fancy. Use big chunky and meaty pieces of chicken for the best experience. Regular sized drum sticks or small chicken legs don’t give you that same heavenly JERK EXPERIENCE. You want something large, chunky and meaty to bite into. Of Course, this marinade can be used for any meat in which you choose to Jerk. I only use it for Pork and Chicken.
I use the terms tsp for teaspoon and tbs for tablespoon. IF YOU'RE COOKING A LARGE BATCH DOUBLE OR TRIPLE/QUADRUPLE THE PORTIONS. THIS MARINADE WAS FOR TWO LARGE CHICKEN LEGS.
Marinade Ingredients:
2tbs Barbecue Sauce
2 tbs of All Spice powder or Pimiento Berries
1 large or 2 small Scotch Bonnets chopped and seeded to your taste: I like my chicken with a bit of heat so I keep a few seeds in, be careful these peppers are extremely hot, wash hands after use and don’t put hands in your face when handling them, if you don’t like too much heat you will need to remove nearly all the seeds, if not all.
2-3 tbs of light Soy Sauce
1 tbs Ground Cinnamon
1 tbs Red Wine Vinegar
3 Scallions chopped
1-2 Sprigs of Thyme chopped
1 tbs Salt (or to your taste)
2 whole Onions Chopped (yes indeed)
2 Garlic Heads peeled and chopped (yes indeed, for maximum flavour)
1 heaping teaspoon of Black Pepper
1 or 2 slices of chopped Ginger
1 heaping tsp of dried Oregano
1/2 Cup or more of Vegetable Oil or a Mild Flavored Oil
(Olive Oil is too strong)
3-6 tbs (or however much is needed)
of Tomato Paste or Ketchup to baste the Chicken while it cooks
Optional Ingredients
(3 Bay Leaves chopped optional)
(5 cloves optional)
(A tbs or two of dark Jamaican Rum optional)
You can either marinate the meat with the ingredients as they are, and of course mix the ingredients thoroughly if you decide to leave the marinade chunky.
The alternative is to put the marinade in a food processor or blender, add more oil if it fails to blend easily, please try not to use water, unless you want watered down and ineffective ingredients, I suggest adding more oil to help with the blending process and not water.
I like to keep the marinade chunky and mix the ingredients in a measuring jug and then leave the ingredients to assimilate for at least an hour, before pouring it on the meat. Please rub marinade on the meat thoroughly, spreading the ingredients evenly on each piece of meat.
Put marinated meat in an air tight container, or a bowl and cover with Clingfilm, and an extra layer of foil on top. Let this marinate in the fridge for 12-24 hours!!! Obviously this can be something you make in advance. Say you want to have Jerk Chicken on Monday night. You can make the marinade 24 hours before, leave it covered in the fridge and then just stick the
meat on the barbecue or charcoal grill on the day.
Enjoy!
This will be my first Recipe Post. And I have to be honest; sharing my first recipe leaves me with a slight feeling of trepidation, as I'm not your conventional food blogger. Many of my recipes are closely guarded secrets, for now. And moreover, I want to save much of my recipes for when the time comes for me to release them in the form of a Cook Book. But the time has finally come for me to share my love of Jamaican food, with fellow food bloggers and food lovers.
A Sublime tasting Jerk can only start with a superb marinade. And this is mine. If you have visited this blog before and read about my passion for food and Jerk, you will know that I've previously mentioned that Jerking should never be done in a gas oven. It either has to be barbecued or charcoal grilled, as the smoky flavor of the meat is what makes Jerk so succulent, flavorful and tasty. However, if you do decide to go the dreaded oven route, just bare in mind that it won't be Real Jerk Chicken, instead it will be Jerk Seasoned Chicken AND IT WILL NOT TASTE ANYWHERE NEAR AS GOOD AS THE REAL JERK CHICKEN.
I've never eaten Jerk Chicken with anything but a Jamaican fried dough dumpling called a Festival; commonly served with Jerk chicken AND FRIED FISH on the Island. Festival dumplings are absolutely delicious, and provide a nice comforting contrast to the peppery and smoky Jerk chicken, creating a party like flavor in your mouth.
However, you can serve Jerk chicken or Pork for that matter, with whatever sparks your desire whether it be a salad, rice and peas/beans, boiled or fried yam or yuca; which would be my second choice, or whatever else takes your fancy. Use big chunky and meaty pieces of chicken for the best experience. Regular sized drum sticks or small chicken legs don’t give you that same heavenly JERK EXPERIENCE. You want something large, chunky and meaty to bite into. Of Course, this marinade can be used for any meat in which you choose to Jerk. I only use it for Pork and Chicken.
I use the terms tsp for teaspoon and tbs for tablespoon. IF YOU'RE COOKING A LARGE BATCH DOUBLE OR TRIPLE/QUADRUPLE THE PORTIONS. THIS MARINADE WAS FOR TWO LARGE CHICKEN LEGS.
Marinade Ingredients:
2tbs Barbecue Sauce
2 tbs of All Spice powder or Pimiento Berries
1 large or 2 small Scotch Bonnets chopped and seeded to your taste: I like my chicken with a bit of heat so I keep a few seeds in, be careful these peppers are extremely hot, wash hands after use and don’t put hands in your face when handling them, if you don’t like too much heat you will need to remove nearly all the seeds, if not all.
2-3 tbs of light Soy Sauce
1 tbs Ground Cinnamon
1 tbs Red Wine Vinegar
3 Scallions chopped
1-2 Sprigs of Thyme chopped
1 tbs Salt (or to your taste)
2 whole Onions Chopped (yes indeed)
2 Garlic Heads peeled and chopped (yes indeed, for maximum flavour)
1 heaping teaspoon of Black Pepper
1 or 2 slices of chopped Ginger
1 heaping tsp of dried Oregano
1/2 Cup or more of Vegetable Oil or a Mild Flavored Oil
(Olive Oil is too strong)
3-6 tbs (or however much is needed)
of Tomato Paste or Ketchup to baste the Chicken while it cooks
Optional Ingredients
(3 Bay Leaves chopped optional)
(5 cloves optional)
(A tbs or two of dark Jamaican Rum optional)
You can either marinate the meat with the ingredients as they are, and of course mix the ingredients thoroughly if you decide to leave the marinade chunky.
The alternative is to put the marinade in a food processor or blender, add more oil if it fails to blend easily, please try not to use water, unless you want watered down and ineffective ingredients, I suggest adding more oil to help with the blending process and not water.
I like to keep the marinade chunky and mix the ingredients in a measuring jug and then leave the ingredients to assimilate for at least an hour, before pouring it on the meat. Please rub marinade on the meat thoroughly, spreading the ingredients evenly on each piece of meat.
Put marinated meat in an air tight container, or a bowl and cover with Clingfilm, and an extra layer of foil on top. Let this marinate in the fridge for 12-24 hours!!! Obviously this can be something you make in advance. Say you want to have Jerk Chicken on Monday night. You can make the marinade 24 hours before, leave it covered in the fridge and then just stick the
meat on the barbecue or charcoal grill on the day.
Enjoy!